Recovery
by Fever-Sama
Summary: Tsuna's world is falling apart. Nana is not home, he has barely enough energy to stand up, and his life is being invaded by strangers who could end him at any time. And somehow, even without Reborn's intervention, he would re-shape the entire Mafia world. T for swearing, AU, character death. Iemitsu-bashing.
1. Loop

**AN: My first story in a long while. Please enjoy!**

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Tsuna woke up to the rumbling of his stomach. He looked at the clock and noted he had only half an hour to get to school. He leapt out of bed, washed as fast as he can and ran downstairs. There was a note on the table from Nana.

_Tsu-kun;_

_Kojima-san next door just had a baby. Isn't that wonderful? But Kojima-san isn't feeling well enough to take care of him by herself so okaa-san will help her look after him. Breakfast is on the table._

_Love Okaa-san_

Tsuna nodded thoughtfully and looked at the toast on the table. As he was about to take it, he saw the clock say 7:45am and practically flew out of the house lest he would share yet another kiss with the head prefect's tonfa. He ran as fast as he could, but yet again said prefect was waiting for him at the school gates, looking very intimidating. As he limped to his classroom he absently wondered whether or not he had a permanent tonfa mark on his stomach now.

The homeroom teacher was late, which was good. Tsuna slipped into his seat noticed a murmur in the room. Rumour has it that a poor soul with a pitiful appearance and nobody to love him was constantly seen around Namimori, but he was also relieved because since the rumour started the bullies stopped picking on him. He hoped the boy was alright.

He failed his math test again but nobody said anything. Or at least Tsuna didn't think they did since he was too sleepy to care and was feeling constantly tired lately. He barely noticed the lunch bell, but he forced himself to get up and felt a pool of dread in his gut as he realised he forgot to bring lunch. He'll just have to eat extra dinner tonight.

He went to the furthest corner of the playground where there was a dead tree with a hollow center. Tsuna was very small for his age and back when the bullies still liked to 'play' with him he used to crawl into the hole and stay there. Nobody ever noticed. He loved that tree because it was warm and continued to protect people even after it died. It was his sanctuary. Nevertheless he shivered slightly when a gust of wind blew by and got out reluctantly when the bell rang.

Tsuna was still tired after school, even though he slept all through science. By the time he got home the sun was going down and he was so tired he just went upstairs and collapsed on his bed. His last coherent thought was the little boy and he silently prayed he will find someone who loved him soon.

The next morning he woke up feeling hungrier and more tired than ever. He was running late yet again and a piece of toast was on the table with a note from Nana saying Kojima-san wasn't feeling well enough to look after the baby. He dashed out into the street, fell over every five steps and got multiple bruises and scrapes in addition to his helping of tonfa. He fell asleep the moment he sat down, but not before feeling extremely depressed about not bringing lunch again.

Today was gym and game-of-the-day was baseball. The school's baseball star picked him to be on his team and despite their best efforts they still lost. The angry team members punished him by making him clean up the court; Yamamoto would have helped out but he was dragged away to prepare for the baseball game next week.

Tsuna fell asleep while looking for a broom and was woken by an extremely irritated prefect after school hours. Hibari was about to bite him to death, but decided to pity the guy for once and actually carried him home since Tsuna was in no condition to go back by himself. Tsuna thanked him and promised never to do that again while secretly wondering at the fact the bloodthirsty teen could actually feel sorry for someone.

He didn't notice he hadn't eaten for days.

After carrying the herbivore back to his house (a prefect's still a prefect and he had to take care of the students somewhat. Hibari would have gotten the other Disciplinary Committee members to do it but they were all in the hospital from a recent encounter with some yakuza. The headmaster had nothing to do with it.) He watched the boy for a while and discovered Sawada was constantly tired, almost always asleep and never ate lunch. He took an hour to walk home (it was only a twenty-minute walk) and Hibari was seriously contemplating not biting him for being late again since the herbivore looked like he was about to kick the bucket any second.

It was that worrying.

He hunted him down one lunch break.

"Lunch time is for consuming food, not hiding away like a pathetic little herbivore," he said. "Why are you not eating?"

"Herbivore! Herbivore!" Hibird chirped from his shoulder.

Tsuna shuffled tiredly. "I-um, forgot my lunch. It's okay though, I'm not hungry." However, his stomach had other ideas and protested. Loudly. Hibari sighed.

"Here." He tossed him a rice ball.

Tsuna failed to catch. He scrambled out of the trunk and picked it up slowly, sighing in relief as the rice ball was wrapped in cling-film. He handed it back to Hibari.

"No," said the prefect. "Eat it."

Tsuna took a step backwards and looked at the rice ball apprehensively as if it was cooked in arsenic.

"You are not getting enough energy and thus you cannot concentrate in class. I do not tolerate herbivores that cannot even look after themselves properly."

"Um," said Tsuna intelligently, but un-wrapped the rice ball, sniffed it and promptly destroyed it while Hibari watched in morbid fascination.

The herbivore ate like a starved lion.

As Tsuna was about to finish the rice ball Hibari was curious to how this frail, timid boy could devour something like a wild animal and gave him another one. It was demolished within seconds. He would have kept giving him more, but he was already down half his own lunch. As he turned away he noted the herbivore bowing at him and whispering a 'thank-you' before climbing back into the tree and did not show up for class in the afternoon. He let him off since he gave him an interesting sight to see.

Interesting, but also very worrying.

The next day Tsuna woke up feeling like death warmed over. He wobbled downstairs, saw the note from his mother, and couldn't eat the toast as he was already five minutes late. He sped down the street as fast as he could but still took another forty minutes to get to school. He already missed the first period, but thanked the heavens Hibari was apparently in a good mood today so he wouldn't end up being bitten to death.

Nezu-sensei called him a lot of degrading names but he was used to them all, so he just laid his head on his math textbook and fell asleep. He was getting weaker and weaker, and he didn't know why. Maybe he was ill?

At lunch Hibari left him a rice ball in his tree trunk, so he ate it quickly, curled up and fell asleep again. The day passed by like a blur and before he knew it he was on his way back home with another two failed tests. Kojima-san was at the front porch with her baby.

"Hello there Tsuna-kun," said Kojima-san, "Say hello to Nana-san for me. She was a great help last week."

Tsuna was confused. "Last week?"

"Yes," Kojima-san replied, bouncing the baby on her lap. "I don't know what I could have done without her."

Nana still wasn't home. '_Probably out shopping', _thought Tsuna and went to bed. _'She's been really busy lately.'_

One fine morning, a certain boxer woke up at five, ate his breakfast, and then went out for his morning run around town. As always he got a tad lost and only by hearing the sound of the nearby school's bell did he know he was going to be late.

As he ran in a random direction at an extremely fast pace, he failed to notice his surroundings and knocked over a boy a little younger than him.

"Oh, I am _extremely_ sorry_!" _Cried Ryohei and lifted the boy up, "Are you okay?"

As Tsuna stood up with a noticeable tremor around the knees, Ryohei noted with a small sense of horror that he was extremely light for his age. Heck, Kyoko was heavier than him when she was _ten._

"You look extremely ill," said Ryohei in a surprisingly normal tone of voice, since he knew from experience talking normally (read: yelling) hurts a lot when you have a headache. "You should go home and get some extreme rest."

"mm-fin," murmured Tsuna and staggered a couple steps. "I'm already failing my classes."

Normally Ryohei would have gushed at that extreme determination and ask the guy to join the boxing club, but he could barely _walk. _So the teen decided to add an extra bit of training, hoisted Tsuna on to his shoulders, sped towards school, dropped him off at the nurse's office and went to his classes. Tanaka-san would take care of things.

Yamamoto, however, was the first to really look.

Since kindergarten Yamamoto was in the same school as Tsuna. He always saw the way Tsuna was pushed and kicked around but the brunet always did his best make Yamamoto feel better, lent him his crayons, offered to play tag and so on, even if he would be It permanently.

Then he got into baseball.

He barely had time for his homework, let alone some boy he barely knew; however in those seven years they knew each other they were never quite friends. As time went on he saw Tsuna's declining health and noticed the way his eyes drooped and heavy bags stretched under them. But he didn't know what to do and since Tsuna still managed to go to school every day he thought he was probably fine. Though the rift in popularity drove them apart, Tsuna would offer to do his classroom duties if Yamamoto had baseball and he could tell everything Tsuna said he meant, even if he looked like a ghost.

But one day, he noticed.

_He_ transferred from Italy and scared half of the Namimori shitless on his very first day. The other half undressed him with their eyes. Upon his arrival in Yamamoto's class, Gokudera Hayato was rather annoyed at the fact Tsuna was sleeping through his entrance and kicked his table over, terrorising the teacher and scaring the students thus reinforcing his delinquent image further if the sloppily-worn uniform, cigarette smoke, constant frown and large number of jewellery were anything to go by.

Tsuna didn't wake up.

Yamamoto was the first to go to Tsuna's side. He popped him back into his seat-he had fallen over with the table and Yamamoto finally saw how _thin _Tsuna was- and lifted the desk back upright. Then he picked up all of Tsuna's books, placed them neatly on the desk, as well as his pencils. Most of the pencil tips snapped so he sharpened them, zipped up the pencil case and told the teacher he was going to take Tsuna to the infirmary.

Gokudera went with him, if only to yell at Tsuna for being such a pussy.

He woke up in the afternoon, apologised the two of them for bothering someone as worthless as him. Yamamoto knew where Tsuna lived, so he took both their bags and headed towards the Sawada residence since Tsuna still didn't look very well.

But Nana was not home.

The house was the same as ever, but with noticeable differences. There was a thin layer of dust on every surface. A dry piece of toast on the table left untouched with a note on the side, hastily scribbled in in. The living room and kitchen looked exactly the same, save the dirty dishes. Yamamoto tucked Tsuna into bed, poured him a glass of water and left for home. Tsuna didn't go to school the next day and nobody called the school to tell them he would be absent. This continued for a week before the baseball star started to get worried, told his dad, the two went in using a spare key from a neighbour and the place was silent as the dead. They explored the houses, saw Tsuna was still fast asleep and came to Nana's room.

The door was open, revealing a whirlwind of chaos.

Overturned drawers. Clothes crumpled on the floor. The shattered window, holes in the wall.

The blood stains.

Sawada Nana was dead.

Reborn came a little after the Yamamotos, as he was curious how Nana didn't contact him after seeing his tutor advertisement. He saw the broken window.

Nana would have repaired it by now.

He inspected the surroundings and smelt gunpowder.

This was not good.

He heard noises inside the house and was about to shoot when he saw a teenaged boy kneeling over the Decimo candidate with a wet towel and a bowl of icy water. There were another two near the window, one staring holes into the ceiling and the other sweeping the floor in an extreme fashion.

"He's sick," said Yamamoto Takeshi as he tucked Tsuna in. "He hasn't woken up for ages. Pops has gone to call the ambulance."

Hibari Kyoya handed Reborn the note from Nana and swept out of the room.

Sasagawa Ryohei went downstairs to fetch Kyoko's homemade cakes. She was worried since Tsuna didn't come to school.

Reborn felt the beginnings of a migraine.

From that moment on, Iemitsu refused to see, hear, or feel anything about his no-good son. Reborn, in the knowledge that Yamamoto would look after Tsuna to the best of his abilities, paid Iemitsu a little visit with some high-calibre firearms.

"He is the Vongola Decimo, future boss of the Famiglia," said Reborn. "And your _family. _What use are you to the Famiglia when you can't even look after your own flesh and blood?"

Iemitsu ignored him. He broke a lot of bones.

How could they miss something as devastating as this?!

Reborn isn't one to give up easily but he knows a lost case when he sees it. So he flew back to Japan, called Gokudera over and explained the case to him. The police won't find about this, because if they did the Vongola would have a lot of unwanted questions, such as 'why will assassins target an innocent housewife'.

"His mother was killed right in front of him," Reborn explained to Yamamoto, Hibari, Ryohei and Gokudera as Tsuna was transferred to Namimori Central Hospital. "He's been living his days in an endless loop, not eating, barely conscious and refusing to believe she is dead. He's traumatised, his bastard of a father refuses to acknowledge his existence, and he has not one friend." The brunet had gone into shock when Gokudera came near him and recognised the smell of smoke. The smell of tobacco and fire and _death. _It was only a second, but it was enough to unlock the memories he was suppressing with what little strength he had and suddenly his mind was clouded with images soaked in an ugly red.

"_Don't hurt Tsu-kun! Please!"_

There was fighting. Gunshots.

"_She'll sell for quite a profit."_

"_Kaa-san! Okaa-san!"_

"_Leave the boy. Probably just a bastard child of the CEDEF head."_

It had hurt.

And everything hit him at once. Trauma, shock, malnutrition, sleep deprivation; it was enough to send him into a deep, dark abyss of despair, unable to get out.

"_But those guys only take virgins. What should we do?"_

"_Kill her."_

They knew what Tsuna had gone through. They knew what Gokudera's part in it was. But they understood. It was not something they could control.

Ryohei brought food. From baskets of fruit to home cooking, they were always the easiest on the stomach. They were offerings to someone with a will so extreme he could keep even memories at bay. Reborn taught him how to release a little of his sun flame and he held them close to Tsuna in the hopes they would help. Kyoko followed when she had time and brought some get-well cards from classmates who wanted their useless classmate back. At least with him around nobody else was last.

Hibari rarely visited since it was nearly the end of the school year and the students were overstepping their boundaries. He did, however, bring some rice balls via Kusakabe.

Yamamoto brought flowers. He too had lost a mother and knew it was not going to be easy. He had laid down his baseball bat; not for good, of course, but he needed to protect his family and someone who was sincere and trustworthy. He brought in flowers like heather and lavender since they smelled nice, and colourful lilies to brighten up the room. Tsuyoshi came along occasionally to play the part Iemitsu never took.

Gokudera changed the most.

When he looked at Sawada's pale yellow face, all he could see was his mother. Her weak, yet gentle smile on her lips when she guided his hands over the keys. And now that he is confronted with another weak, gentle person who needed help, he won't let go again. He was an asshole, but he was an asshole with a _heart, _dammit. 'If you feel remorse, then try to fix it.' Reborn ordered a _grand fucking piano _into Tsuna's spacious (Vongola-standard) hospital room along with several classic piano scores, pointed a nice sleek pistol from his CEDEF adventure at Gokudera's head and demanded him to play something and it had better be good.

He played his mother's favourites. Soft, melancholic melodies that once you immerse yourself into it you can't come out until it ends. Hibari came over to listen during the holidays. When he plays he is more like he used to be and he is more relaxed. Music was one thing he could offer, from one orphan to another. The other was cutting down to two cigarettes a week instead of the two _packets_.

He and Yamamoto came to a sort of silent understanding as they spent the most time with each other in Tsuna's hospital room. Gokudera would play something calm, soothing and light-hearted while Yamamoto talked about his day and replaced the flowers. Then when visiting hours were over Yamamoto would help Gokudera tidy up the music, arrange Tsuna's covers, and head out together.

"You play really well," Yamamoto would say. "How did you get so good?"

"I practised," said Gokudera as he absently fingered one of his cigarettes. "Stopped playing when I was eight. Got back into it recently."

"Hahaha, seems like we both gave up something important to us huh?" Laughed Yamamoto. "I just gave up baseball. My old man knows some sword techniques and it's pretty fun!"

"You'd think anything is fun," Spat Gokudera.

"I guess," said Yamamoto. "Life's kind of like an RPG isn't it? Like, you're the Player, your friends are the Party, everyone else are NPCs, and we battle with other players at tournaments and stuff! I think it's pretty cool, actually. Hey, maybe we're actually in an RPG. I wonder if we get treasure chests. It would be kind of bad if we just went into random houses and taking their stuff-"

"Stop talking before I start strangling you to death," Gokudera growled. He was starting anger management classes and he really didn't want to blow it. Thankfully no permanent damage was done and the two got back home in one piece.

His music unknowingly brought a girl named Nagi to Tsuna one night as she wandered the halls.

Reborn did the most. He hired top-of-the-line doctors and nurses, transferred Tsuna to the most comfortable room there was in Namimori Hospital, ordered a Grand Piano in so Gokudera wouldn't sulk, called in a favour Lal Mirch owed in the old days to shoot Iemitsu at least ten times a day, informed Nono about Tsuna's progress, made sure no assassins got within four miles radius of their location, organised a schedule for Tsuna when he woke up, and that's for after weekly meetings with a psychiatrist and an expert on Post Traumatic Disorder.

Within him, however, was a miniscule spark of pity.

No child should go through what he had, much less a boy of thirteen.

He saw Nagi sneak into the room after hearing some beautiful music, and let her see a boy, just as sickly as she was, lying on a bed with several tubes attached to his body.

'_He couldn't have played that', _Nagi thought. He's too sick. So was she. Her liver would shut down tomorrow and soon her intestines would be beyond repair. Neither of her parents would donate their organs to save their child. They wouldn't even pay the money for any organs. They didn't want her. She was going to die. She didn't notice Reborn behind the curtains, tipping his fedora and making a phone call. The next day Vongola Medical Association donated some organs 'for charity' to the hospital and Nagi was saved. She still needed time to get used to them, but she visited Tsuna every day after recovering from the operation. Her parents never came to visit, but she didn't care.

He was like her guardian angel and if a hopeless case like her could get better, so could that sickly boy.

Lambo was found by Ryohei when he was jogging past the Sawada residence.

"Oi kid, what are you doing here?" Yelled Ryohei,"Nobody's in there!"

"But Lambo-sama needs to assassinate Reborn!" Lambo yelled back.

"I know a Reborn," said Ryohei and grabbed the cow-child. "Come on, I'll take you to him."

The next hour was filled with explosions, tears, Ten Year Later bazookas and a surprisingly emotional future Lambo.

"He was really nice to me," said future Lambo softly. "He was the brother I never had. I remember I was really happy when he took us to ice cream and there was the local carnival-"

He never got to finish the sentence as the five minutes were up and Lambo returned, sucking on a sweet. He saw Tsuna, pale and thin, nearly transparent skin after almost two weeks of no nutrition and suddenly burst into tears. "Why is the nice nii-san asleep?" He cried. "He was awake and gave me grape candy. Nobody else was that nice or gave me grape candy. How does nii-san know Lambo's favourite candy? Why won't he wake up? _Lambo wants more grape candy! Lambo wants the nice nii-san to wake up! Lambo doesn't want the nice nii-san to be sick!_"

Reborn noted Lambo's future self was wearing the Lightning Vongola ring and the current Lambo was so upset he even forgot to tack the '–sama' on the end of his name. Tsuna must have been a really understanding person.

God he needed a drink.

Reborn had decided that those six children would be Tsuna's guardians. He could feel flickers of flame from each of them and Ryohei had already unlocked his, which made things infinitely easier. The main problem was for Tsuna to get over Nana's death and trust his guardians, which is difficult because one was oblivious, one had a temper, one was just stupid, one was anti-social as hell, one was obnoxious and the last had serious depression. To make matters worse, Tsuna barely knew half of them.

Then there was the issue of Iemitsu abandoning his son.

Reborn 'borrowed' Lambo's Ten Year Bazooka and fired it at himself. Tsuna woke up sometime in the future and he had to see what kind of man his student would become. It was an interesting sight.

Lambo was on the floor with Nagi, Fon's apprentice and Fuuta de la Stella playing a card game. They were betting on candies and Lambo was losing. Hibari was perched on the windowsill, looking over the gardens. A man with a pineapple hairstyle whom Reborn was sure he had seen somewhere before was scribbling away at some paperwork and glaring unhappily at the four on the floor. Gokudera was attempting to teach Ryohei chess with little progress. Yamamoto stood behind the bomber with an amused face and kept him from killing everyone in the room.

And in the midst of it all, Tsuna sat with a content smile on his face, sipping at a cup of coffee and looked every bit as radiant and compassionate future Lambo said he would be. Then the time was up and Reborn returned to the present with a puff of smoke.

They would just have to wait.


	2. Bonding Time

**A lot of you were asking for me to continue this fanfiction and I'm a people pleaser, so...here it is. Ta-daa! *insert fanfare music***

**To Misha: Yes, that is what I am doing. It _Will _be harder to write as I continue but as of the moment my goal is to go more than five chapters, which would break a sort of writing curse of mine.**

**To Guest: Iemitsu loved his wife. Like, A LOT. And from what I can tell more than our Tuna-fish. The reason why he doesn't want Tsuna any more may be explored the next chapter. **

**To all foreign reviewers: I LOVE YOU. Even if I do need to use Google Translate a lot. _I know you all know English since you have read an English story. _**

**Enjoy!**

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Niwa Florists was about half an hours walk from Namimori Middle, so every day after school Yamamoto would go and pick up a bouquet before heading to the hospital. That day he browsed for a bit before deciding that irises were the way to go and bought a couple of those along with some lavender and headed to the hospital. He smiled at the nurses and waved to some of the patients before heading to Tsuna's room, where the brunet was timidly taking in a spoon of porridge.

"Tsuna!" Yamamoto cried and ran towards him happily. He stopped when the nurse gave him a stink eye worthy of the gods and slowed down to a walk, planting the flowers into the vase and tossing his schoolbag away.

"Y-Yamamoto-san?" Tsuna cried, and tried to stand for a bow. The nurse kept him on the bed and Yamamoto scratched the back of his head nervously. He forgot about their social gap; for the past three weeks he was convinced they were friends and Tsuna suddenly seemed so much more important.

"Ah, just call me Takeshi," he grinned. "You're awake?"

"Just a little while ago-"

"So Sawada's awake?"

Two pairs of eyes turned towards the door which Gokudera was leaning upon, a deep frown upon his Italian features and mouth set into a snarl. His green eyes focused on Tsuna, who 'hiie'd and instinctively hid under his covers. Yamamoto laughed and clapped him on the shoulder, ignoring Gokudera's twitching.

"Yup!" He said merrily. "So you're here too, huh? Gonna play some tunes to celebrate?"

"Fuck no." Tsuna squeaked again. "I'm only here because Reborn-san told me to."

"Um, G-Gekidou-san?" Tsuna whispered, "S-sorry for b-bothering you."

"It's Gokudera, asshole."

"S-sorry!"

"Move, Tsuna."

"H-HIIIEEE! Wha-where-"

"Behind you, stupid."

His pillow suddenly transformed into a baby with curly sideburns and a fedora and said baby promptly kicked Tsuna in the face. Gokudera respectfully bowed and even Yamamoto gave a small wave. Reborn nodded acknowledgingly at the two before settling on Tsuna's lap, who was beating his head on an imaginary wall for being so goddamn stupid. How in the world had he not noticed?!

"_Ciao, _Tsuna. My name is Reborn. I will be your _katekyoushi _from now on. Nice to meet you."

"Home Tutor?" Tsuna frowned. "I don't r-remember asking for one."

Reborn lowered his head and let a shadow fall over his eyes. Gokudera shooed the nurse out and sat at his piano, frown replaced by a grimace. Yamamoto's smile suddenly seemed pained and Tsuna suddenly felt the atmosphere in the room change.

"You probably don't," Reborn said slowly, "That is because Sawada Nana did, but didn't have the chance to tell you before she died." Which was such beautiful bullshit, Reborn silently prayed for forgiveness from Nana's soul for using her like that.

Tsuna's face was the perfect picture of a hurt animal.

"S-she did?" He choked out from under unshed tears. "I can't blame her, I-I mean, my grades were horrible and she want-wanted to me to b-be hap-happy. I-I'm so useless, I'm s-so sorry Kaa-san, I-I'm so s-s-sorry…I p-promised I would protect you, I'm s-sorry…"

Tsuna hid back under his covers and curled up into a little ball, figure trembling pitifully under the pristine white sheets. No voice came as Tsuna had not dared to cry in front of two strangers, opting to bite down on his arm instead to stop himself from screaming in anguish as Nana's body fell down in front of his eyes once more.

The three stayed still, not daring to make a move until the tremors stopped and the ball of flesh underneath expanded in time with his breath as he cried himself to sleep. Gokudera shook his head and flipped through his book of Mozart while Yamamoto excused himself to go home for dinner. Reborn simply sat there, Leon curled up on the rim of his fedora while Tsuna found his way in the world of dreams.

He was in a garden, the scent of freshly cut grass and moist soil right after rain floating around. He sat on an ivory white chair, with an equally white table in front of him covered in what seemed to be European pastries and tea. But for some reason he wasn't hungry as the treats all looked deliciously mouth-watering.

Seated across from him was a man with soft, hazel hair, a handsomely cut face and gentle, honey-gold eyes. He looked eerily familiar for some reason, Tsuna thought as he sipped at his tea. The man took a sip at the exact time. He spoke, his voice a smooth baritone, yet not a single word found its way into Tsuna's ears. Instead his brain focused on the taste of the tea.

Metallic.

Tsuna glanced down at his tea in horror; it was thick and a gruesome brown-black-red. The garden was suddenly withered and the table on his side looked aged and dying. The man's eyes widened and reached across in a desperate attempt to snap Tsuna's attention back to him and away from whatever horrors plagued Tsuna, but Tsuna wasn't paying attention.

He looked down at the table.

On the other side the table was exactly the way it was, white, glowing with sunshine and the garden still thriving with life and colour. The man's eyes were pained and filled with sorrow, and a look in his teacup said his tea was a light jade green.

Tsuna focused back on his side of the table. More importantly, at the pastries.

They were meat, and definitely not a kind of meat he had ever eaten. The one at the top of a small pile had his mother's wedding ring embedded in it. He screamed.

The world erupted into flames and the garden was gone.

Tsuna woke in the middle of the night.

The nightmare still haunted him, and the desperate look in the man's eyes were still fresh, along with the taste of blood. He then realised he had been biting the inside of his cheek the whole time and it was indeed bleeding. A mug of something hot was shoved into his face.

"Drink," said the baby -Reborn, his mind supplied. "It will calm you down." Tsuna drank. It was sugared milk, and the warmth of the liquid washed through his body and cured it of the nightmare tremors.

"Bad dream?" Tsuna nodded. "Can you go back to sleep?" Shake. No.

The two sat together till morning.

Progress was slow. No, not slow. More like non-existent.

Every night, (not morning, as Tsuna's sleep cycle has officially died horribly) Tsuna would wake up screaming for his mother and cry for a couple minutes. Dark circles have appeared under his eyes as he refused to go back to sleep afterwards and Reborn had to sit with him until morning when the sun was visible once more and Tsuna dropped off again, but fortunately after his mandatory bowl of porridge and some pickles.

Something had to be done. Like, now. And all the _trusted _psychiatrists were with civilians trying to reverse the damage done by some of the more aggressive Mafiosi. There weren't even that many of them in the first place; mafia men weren't really known for their sanity. Just look at the Varia.

So Reborn brought Shamal in.

"If he continues like this I'll never get to teach anything and that's my goddamn job," Reborn griped. "Cure him in ten. Nine-"

"I know I know," Shamal griped back, "I owe you a favour and all but I'm a doctor, not a freaking psychiatrist. I'm not doing this because I can't, not because he has a Y chromosome. Get someone else."

Fuck. His schedule was officially ruined.

After a few days Tsuna's sleep cycle was regular again through some physical rehab (courtesy of Reborn. There were a lot of push-ups involved.) Which was great, since he was actually awake to see his visitors come and leave. He discovered that Yamamoto was a lot of fun to hang out with and Gokudera, whilst a ticking time bomb that could detonate at any given second, had a wonderful sense of music and his hands danced on piano keys like a ballerina. One weekend they were playing cards on Tsuna's bed and Gokudera was getting bored from winning all the time.

"So," he grumbled, "Your mum's dead." Ignoring Tsuna's visible twitch, he pressed on. "So is mine. And apparently so is the sword freak's."

Tsuna's eyes widened.

"You don't really have the right to wallow in your self-pity when there are others like you. Look at yourself, you look like a little snail curled up in its shell that doesn't come out. You either come out or starve, so get a spine and get over it."

"Gokudera," scolded Yamamoto, "That's harsh."

"It's the truth," Gokudera spat, "So shut up. Are you going to take my queen or not?"

"No, but you're right Gokudera." Yamamoto looked at Tsuna. "Kind of. It'll hurt a lot, but you'll be fine. You have us, after all. We can go through it together."

Tsuna gave a weak smile. Gokudera resisted the urge to roll his eyes. The three started a new game in an awkward silence till Tsuna decided to break it.

"I-I loved her," he began slowly. "She was the only person I had, and I was the only person she had. T-Tou-san was never home, so it was the two of us. She was a wonderful person, putting up with someone like me. She cooked and cleaned and did everything she could just to keep me happy." He put his hand away. "I couldn't do anything. Those men just came and went. She protected me and I couldn't do anything."

Silence.

"Neither could I," said Yamamoto. "Mine had cancer. It took her three years to notice and another to finally pass away." He put his cards away too. "Dad was heartbroken. So was I."

Gokudera sighed.

"Mine taught me the piano," he said. "She and my father had me in an affair. She was already ill, but she died when my father's wife sabotaged her car and went off a cliff. I was only allowed to see her three times a year, and I never knew she was my mother till I was eight."

Yamamoto put the cards back in their packet. "I guess our lives were all kind of terrible, weren't they?" He let out a weak laugh. "At least we have something in common."

"Suppose," said Gokudera. Yamamoto suddenly clapped his hands.

"Why don't we ask each other questions?" He suggested. "We should know more about each other! We're friends, right?"

Gokudera raised an eyebrow as if to say 'are you a fucking retard', which Yamamoto took as a yes. Tsuna hesitatingly nodded.

"I'll start," said Yamamoto. "Um, Tsuna, what's your favourite colour?"

"O-orange I guess," Tsuna replied. "Yamamoto-san, what's yours?"

"Ha-ha-ha, just call me Takeshi Tsuna, but mine is blue! Gokudera, what's yours?"

Gokudera glared, but muttered 'red' under his breath. "Sawada. Favourite weapon."

"H-HIEEEE?! W-weapon! I-I don't know any weapons!"

"He means from video games and stuff, right?" Yamamoto chuckled. "I like swords, like from Final Fantasy. Sephiroth's sword is like totally awesome! It's taller than himself! Ha-ha!"

"Wasn't asking you, idiot."

"O-Oh, from games? U-um, er…I guess I like swords too…?"

"Your turn to ask a question, Tsuna."

And so it went on till once again visiting hours were over to let Tsuna mull over the new information from his friends. He now knew that Yamamoto liked sushi and Gokudera favourite genre of books were science fiction. He also had a brief overview of their backgrounds and their phone numbers, their best and worst school subjects, places they would like to visit, life goal (Gokudera's was a little odd, 'to become the right-hand man of a respected _Famiglia_, not sure what that was) and their preferences in girls. Tsuna stumbled in the last bit and accidently leaked Kyoko's name, but they both swore on their lives not to tell. At least Yamamoto did, Gokudera just gave a shrug and an angry mutter.

After the Twenty Questions were over he suddenly felt a lot closer to the two. Perhaps one day when Tsuna wasn't so useless, he could ask them to be his friends? But for now he drifted off to sleep, and this time in his dreamscape howling winds and thunder rumbled as a light drizzle fell upon the garden. The sky was an angry black, the sun nowhere to be seen. A crash sounded and the wind, harsh and strong, flew around them as if they were in the eye of a storm. The rain slowly filled the teacup, overflowing the snow china rim and washing the red liquid out. A sudden gale blew everything on the table away into the sky.

The man smiled from across him and Tsuna never had that dream again. As Tsuna finally received the calm of peaceful dreams, two corridors down someone was wide awake, her mind tumbling with disjointed thoughts.

"Chrome Dokuro," She whispered to herself.

It had been a week since she heard that soft whisper in her mind, probing her memories and giving her a chance to feel _needed _again. Her parents gave her up right after her operation as they refused to pay. She felt she shouldn't be so happy about that fact.

But then, what would happen to the boy? She needed to know he was okay.

'_**He will be fine, my sweet Nagi,'**_ the voice whispered. '_**He has the Vongola behind him, after all.' **_

'_The Vongola,_' Nagi thought. '_Tha-that's a Mafia family_?'

'_**Yes, my dear.'**_

'_S-So what do you want from me, Mukuro-sama?'_

'_**Not much. I simply wish to have access to the outside world through your mind. Do not fret, you will not be harmed. I will make sure of that.'**_

'_H-how? M-my mind?'_

'_**Yes. You see, I have some quite extraordinary powers that allow me to search the minds of others; like a psychic, if you will. While I am inside you, your mind will remain dormant till mine separates from your body. It is quite complicated, but I am quite sure a bright girl such as you would have no trouble grasping the concept.'**_

'_Y-yes, I think I understand. What will you do, Mukuro-sama?'_

'_**For now to simply observe,' **_Mukuro replied. '_**However, something so wretched as a Mafia Family must be eliminated no matter what cost. I will need time to set up the pieces.'**_

'_Mukuro-sama…'_

'_**Yes, Nagi?'**_

'_I-if you must destroy the Vongola,' _Nagi asked, '_could you please not hurt Sawada-san?' _She shrank into herself, afraid she had angered her new friend. '_T-the Vongola did help me out, after all…'_

Mukuro did not say a word for a long time, and it was quite clear he took long lengths choosing his words when he did.

'_**I cannot make any promises,' **_he finally said. '_**He is after all well acquainted with one of the most dangerous hit men in the underworld. But should things boil down to the worst, you have my word I will do my best to spare the lives of him and his associates.'**_

'_O-Okay.'_

'_**Well Nagi? Would you like to take me up on my offer? To be born a new person?'**_

'_Y-yes! I will, Mukuro-sama.'_

'_**Very good.' **_There was an audible smile in his words. '_**Welcome to the Kokuyo Gang, Chrome. I'm sure the others will be quite pleased to meet you. I will send Ken and Chikusa tomorrow to pick you up at 2 pm sharp. Be prepared. Kufufufu…' **_

An explosion set off in the east wing at 13:57 while Tsuna was asleep after his physical rehab (seventy squats and fifty press-ups, Tsuna fainted half-way). Reborn's ears immediately pricked up and Leon transformed into a long-range sniper rifle. "Gokudera, Yamamoto," He commanded, "Guard Tsuna. Don't let anyone get into the medward." Two grim nods were his answer, Gokudera whipping out his dynamite and cigarettes and falling into a battle stance, already eying any and every escape route. Yamamoto had his hand over the bamboo handle of the Shigure Kintoki, ready to move at any second. Reborn headed out on to the roof to scope from above.

Footsteps pattered outside and Gokudera immediately set off the dynamite left in the hallway. A yelp of surprise and a grunt affirmed two people.

Needles flew and a man-beast crashed against Yamamoto in blinding speed. The teen cried out in pain, the grip on his sword lost as he struggled to detach huge feline claws from his neck. Gokudera flung sticks of dynamite at the two of them, but the beast had leapt away before they could detonate and the dynamite exploded beside Yamamoto instead, knocking him out cold.

Reborn's bullets embedded themselves into the beast's arms and shoulders, but before he could land a fatal shot more needles were hurled his way and he had to dodge. They were obviously a well-oiled team.

"Guard Tsuna!" He said to Gokudera. The bomber hesitantly nodded, headed into the brunet's room and locked the door. He could hear the yells and screams of various nurses and doctors and he didn't want a wimpy, scrawny loser panicking in front of him; way too much stress.

Another pair of footsteps were heard and the two intruders immediately halted their barrage. "It's the girl, kakipi!" The beast growled, "Let's get outta here. My arms are killing me!"

It was Nagi, her little chest heaving with exhaustion. The beast grabbed her arms roughly, ignored the squeak of pain from the tiny female and leapt away from Reborn. With them the tiny hit man saw a young man with glasses donning a beanie hat and holding two yoyos, face emotionless as he leapt over Yamamoto. The three were out of the building in seconds.

"The fuck?" Gokudera supplied as the clean-up crew came and went. "Who the hell were they? Wait, scratch that. Who was that girl?"

"Maybe they were her relatives?" Yamamoto tried. "Ow, those fireworks were really powerful! You shouldn't fling those things round a hospital, someone could get hurt real bad!"

"Those were _dynamite, _stupid!"

Reborn suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. He found him doing that a lot recently.

"That doesn't matter," Reborn said. "What matters is that we might run into those two again. Their efficiency and experience in espionage tells me they had a Mafia background or at least formal training."

"Mafia? Woah, that is some serious role-play!"

"It's real, godammit!"

"Back to the situation at hand," Reborn said, "If we ever do run into them we will have to subdue them, and we can't do that with the abysmal performance today. Yamamoto, you underestimated the fire-power and range on your own side and was caught in the backlash. Gokudera, you had no qualms hurting allies to reach the end result, and even that failed. The two of you will have to learn to work together, or else you will be annihilated."

"Reborn-san, why would I have to team up with Blade-Bonehead over there? He's not even going to join the family!"

"Hey, who said I wasn't? This whole Mafia thing seems pretty neat! Is Tsuna playing too?"

"Yes."

"Oh, he didn't mention anything about it though."

"He hasn't joined yet, it's a surprise for when he's better."

"Oh, okay."

"You can't join, dammit!"

"Why not? Everyone can play games, right?"

"See Gokudera? Yamamoto wants to join."

"Great! So how do you play?"

"We are members of the strongest family, the Vongola. To stay the strongest we have to defeat rival families, assassins and whatnot. Tsuna's the future boss and we're finding his Guardians for the time he can ascend to the title of the Vongola Decimo."

"Woo, that's awesome. Can I be a Guardian?"

"You already are. Gokudera is one too."

"Sweet!"

"Fuck it!"

"Enough." Reborn leapt on to Yamamoto's shoulder. It was lean and muscular and quite comfortable to sit on. "For your training, you will be under the care of one of the most deadly assassins of the underworld. In fact, she's already here; come on in."

Gokudera immediately collapsed into a heap on the ground.

The remainder of the day compromised of the former baseball star dragging a comatose pianist across fields of extremely sharp kitchen utensils and obstacles in the form of toxic foodstuffs varying in degrees of lethality. As great an athlete Yamamoto was, even he had limits and half an hour in he had fallen victim to a magenta-coloured stew catapulted in the face and the two were knocked out together. Rinse and repeat after an hour or so in between, till finally after dinner time Bianchi thought they had a sufficient poison resistance training for the day and let them go home. The next day Yamamoto came in with Gokudera unconscious on his back, his own face a shade of light green. Tsuna scooted over and let the two sit (or in Gokudera's case, lie) on his bed. "Are you two okay?"

"We'll be fine," Yamamoto answered in a strained voice. "Gokudera's sister just came over to visit and she made dinner, but the ingredients weren't fresh and we all got food poisoning. Sorry I forgot to bring you flowers."

"It's okay!" Tsuna squeaked. "It doesn't matter so long as you're okay! Um, what's Gokudera's sister like?"

Reborn hopped on the railing of the bed. "She is a lovely, charming young lady from a sophisticated background. You should meet her Tsuna, she is quite pretty. Her cooking skills are unparalleled." Just not in your conventional way. She was also my fourth lover."

"Oh, I s-LOVER?! I-you-whu-HIEE?! Y-you're like a baby!"

"I'm older than I look, Tsuna."

"Um…ok…so uh, where is she now?"

"Bianchi is currently sorting out your house. She will be 'looking after' Gokudera and Yamamoto and she needs somewhere to stay."

"Oh." Pause. Rewind. "Wait a minute, how did she get into my house?"

"Baka-Tsuna, your neighbour's keys. I assume she can stay?"

"O-of course. Not like there's anybody else there anyway…" Tsuna sighed. It was going to be hard to adjust by himself. Who will pay the rent? Will he have to be adopted or will his dad come back to collect him-oh. "What about Otou-san? I-Is he okay? Do you know?"

Reborn's expression darkened and killer instinct leaked into the room. Tsuna thought he was imagining things, but he could have sworn the sky turned black and thunder was rumbling in the distance.

"Don't even mention that _bastardo _in front of me again. Ever."

"What happened, Reborn-san?" Gokudera asked groggily from his position. "What happened to the External Advisor?"

"Nothing," Reborn ground out. "He was just being his asshole-ish self."

"But that doesn't make any sense!" Tsuna reasoned. "Please, Reborn! Tell me what happened to Otou-san!"

"No."

"Please! I beg of you!" Tsuna tumbled out of the bed, stumbled, fell over, accidently kicked Gokudera in the leg but finally managed to prostate himself on the ground. "No matter how bad or ignorant he had been, he was still my father! He's the only family I have! Please tell me, Reborn-san! How did you know him? Is he okay? Does he know about o-o-Okaa-san?"

Silence. Reborn sighed.

"Get up and take off the honorific, Tsuna." Reborn sighed again and stroked Leon gently. "I'll tell you what happened. But first get me some coffee, my patience is fucking fried."

"Of course, Reborn-san." Gokudera pushed himself off the bed. "I will make you some post-haste."

"No need Hayato. I will."

Tsuna turned. The newcomer was a European lady with long red hair, a tall dazzling figure and a secretive smile. "Y-you must be Gokudera-kun's sister," he greeted shyly. "Y-you two look very alike. My name is S-Sawada Tsunayoshi...um, n-nice to meet you?"

The lady smiled. "How lovely to meet one of dear Hayato's friends", she replied. "You may call me Bianchi. It is a pleasure. And how is my little brother doing?"

Said brother was writhing on the floor, making funny choking sounds and foaming at the mouth. Reborn clicked his tongue and Yamamoto paled slightly.

"Hi there, Bianchi-san. Erm, you don't have to, I'll do it. It must have been tiring tidying up the place."

"No no, it is quite all right. And how are you, my precious Reborn?"

"As good as good can be, Bianchi," Reborn answered while Yamamoto picked Gokudera back up. "If you would just bring a coffee machine in here that would be lovely. I feel like we need all the energy we can get."

"Of course dear, right away."

As soon as Bianchi walked out of the room Gokudera seemed to gather his breath. "Da-damn it, Aneki…I was doing fine till she came along…"

"Gokudera-kun!" Tsuna asked, "Are you okay? What happened? Why did you suddenly faint?"

"Gokudera had a bad case of food poisoning when Bianchi made him something," Reborn supplied, "So whenever he sees her face his stomach over-reacts."

"I can see why," Yamamoto commented hesitantly. "Her cooking really messes up the stomach. Maybe Pops can teach her how to make sushi?"

Bianchi came in, sat the coffee machine on the table, plugged it in and waited for it to heat up. She grinded the coffee beans, laid them on the side and set the timer for the water to boil. Reborn leapt into her arms and the two sat together in an armchair while the kettle whistled in the background.

"Now that we're all nice and settled," said Reborn, "I will start explaining. But first Bianchi, please put something over your face. We need Gokudera conscious."

* * *

**I would love to hear what you think about this chapter. Awesome and exiting? Mediocre and needs some working? Complete waste of time? Tell me, and I will respond.**

**Also, what do you think will happen? How long will Tsuna take to recover? Will he recover at all? Will he become a Mafia Boss? Remember, as we all know from the Future Arc, history can be changed! Let me know what you think by clicking on the little text-box below.**

**Fever **


	3. Precious Things

**A/N: Merry Christmas everyone and happy holidays! Sorry for the wait and hope you will enjoy this Christmas special :)**

**E: Thank you very much! Don't worry, there will be more to come so keep your eyes peeled!**

**Guest: I'm continuing, don't worry.**

* * *

Ten years into the future everyone was drinking up the festive atmosphere as they admired the Italian landscape. Lights of every colour shone as brightly as their flames all through the city, while beautiful crystals of snow covered the ground in a blanket of white.

They were all still knackered from yesterday's Chiaverone ball but none of them cared. It was the Christmas spirit that kept everyone going; even Kyouya was willing to deal with crowding herbivores and Mukuro just for the day.

This time it was a solely _family _event. The attendees were guardians, Arcobaleno and miscellaneous people they were close to. There was to be no fancy clothing, no expensive champagne (though high-quality coffee was brought for Reborn's sake) or any long tables filled with food that would cost more than your average man can ever earn in his lifetime. Instead there were huge bottles of soft drinks, cheap microwave junk food and jeans and hoodies and pyjamas.

They also had a Christmas tree (fake, but nobody cared) in the Guardians' lounge covered in lights, candy and baubles with presents lined up underneath. A fire was roaring in the card-covered fireplace and they were all lounging on the carpet or in their animal-shaped beanbags with their box familiars, chatting quietly and doing stupid things with popcorn and tinsel.

Years ago, Tsuna would not have dreamed that his future would include so many friends and happiness. Each day was chaotic and included _way _too many bills, but it was all worth it in the end. He smiled as he thought of his friends; how would they react to his presents?

For Hayato he bought a refillable fountain pen with an emerald-coloured glass bead on the end along with his name in elegant silver script. It wasn't expensive and his right hand would certainly make great use from it as he ran out of pens multiple times a week from the damage control the Varia gave them to deal with.

Takeshi would be receiving a baseball glove. His old one was falling apart and even he didn't show it Tsuna knew he missed the sport. In case he didn't want to toss the faithful baseball glove he had since middle school Tsuna printed a tutorial on making old tattered clothing items into new ones. Maybe it was time Takeshi wore gloves in winter like every other sane person.

Ryohei got an emergency first-aid book with a dictionary of medical terms and a roll of fresh bandages. Ryohei had thought seriously about becoming a doctor (he's currently a beginner nurse) and this would help him greatly on his road to medical success. Even if the contents of his presents would be used more often on himself than on anyone else.

Lambo would get a cow-leather wallet that has a hoop for storing his keys and a zip-up pocket for the change. Lambo forgets things so often Tsuna sometimes wants to tear his hair out. Currently Lambo has two places to put his money-a wallet for bills and credit cards, and his change in his hair. Now that it isn't as puffy as it was when Lambo was a child the coins often gets scattered or washed down the shower.

Kyouya's present is a little wooden carving of a skylark Tsuna found at the market and had hidden in his room for the right time to give him. Tsuna really didn't know what to give him that wouldn't be used on him in sparring sessions and this, quite frankly, was probably the safest thing to buy.

He also bought a perch for Hibird.

Chrome was also hard to find presents for. His mist guardian was so quiet and withdrawn Tsuna didn't know what she liked, if she liked anything at all. So he settled for a stuffed, fluffy white owl plush. And flowers. Flowers were always a safe bet when you had a shy female on your hands.

Mukuro got coloured contact lenses to hide his heterochromia. Mukuro uses his flames to cover them up, but there are skilled illusionists and flame detectors in enemy territory, and with these the enemy wouldn't even see his eye changing kanji-nobody would- when he wished to use his Six Paths of Hell. Plus the red eye freaks out the majority of the human population.

Enma got a fake necktie. It was black and on the knot parts were little hooks so that he wouldn't ever have to tie them; Tsuna couldn't use them himself due to Reborn's sadistic tendencies.

Dino gets a new watch. Tsuna knew that the Chiaverone boss was almost as fashion conscious as Hayato and Dino needed a way to keep himself on time without a subordinate nearby.

Kyoko and Haru each got a new cookbook and a pair of charm bracelets with their birthstones on them. He did have to spend a bit extra on the girls but they did deserve it; without them he would have starved in the Future Byakuran fiasco.

Speaking of Byakuran, he got him some marshmallows. Tsuna still felt a bit bitter about the Future Incident but he couldn't just leave Byakuran out-after all, he helped them against Bermuda.

Shouichi's present was new headphones for listening to music. The old pair was left in Millefiore headquarters when they smashed it into the ground and Shoichi had to make do with a mini speaker, which made Tsuna feel really guilty.

Spanner gets a first person shooter game, because even in Tsuna's standards he really needs a hobby that doesn't involve high-level mechanics and it might help with Spanner's chronic geeky-ness.

The Varia was easy-just send in some whiskey, weapon maintenance kits, Squalo a good quality comb and Xanxus more whiskey and he was set.

Bianchi's gift was a new set of cooking utensils. Shamal's was a calendar of scantily clad women (and Shamal better appreciate it as he had to buy it in front of hundreds of people in the mall), Chikusa a new beanie, Ken a gift card he could use on food and various snacks, Kusakabe a notebook, I-pin an Asian-print fan…

The Arcobaleno were a bunch of picky assholes, but luckily Tsuna knew what they liked, unlike Chrome who had to be bought generic girl-gifts (though the plush had to be commissioned). For example, he got Skull a new helmet, Verde a new lab-coat, Colonello and Lal new sniper scopes, Fon a DVD of meditation music and so on, but Reborn's had to be special.

After all, Reborn was his tutor and the one who turned his life around and made him truly appreciate the beauty and richness of life.

So a mug was bought, black in colour with a fade-in dark green Leon-handle. Emblazoned in sun-yellow were the words 'Reborn, World's Greatest Hitman, Tutor, Advisor and Irreplaceable Friend.' On that mug was exactly what Tsuna thought of him through all those ten years, and it was all in Japanese with an Italian translation in tiny letters round the rim.

There was also a bottle of his favourite Tequila to pacify him when Tsuna accidently does something stupid.

All those gifts, despite their lack of originality, were all carefully chosen and wrapped with extreme care. A small tag was on each one with a special little message to the receiver wishing them a happy Christmas. And now Tsuna was curled up with Nuts in his favourite orange beanbag, a mug of hot chocolate in his hands and trembling with nerves inside. What if they didn't like them? After all the Vongola were wealthy people and none of those gifts were particularly classy or expensive. There were probably millions of copies of each present out there that you could buy in any old shop.

Thankfully none of his friends noticed his nervousness as they were too busy trying to choke each other with Christmas lights. Damn nerves, it never quite went away even after becoming a Mafia boss. He just knew how to hide it really, really well.

Inevitably, the clock struck twelve on Christmas and with a cheer that would have broken many windows had they not been reinforced many, many times the excited young adults flung themselves at the small mountain of presents. As a side note, most of the Arcobaleno and Shamal were not there. Had they been they would have been crushed by the mountains of presents, other individuals and their own paranoia.

Tsuna mailed their presents over so he wouldn't have to worry about the paranoia there. It was Christmas and nobody was to shoot, kill or maim anyone else or they would have to deal with an overworked, violence intolerant Decimo who really wanted to spend just one day without having to deal with more paperwork.

The Christmas two years ago demonstrated that Tsuna, when under extreme stress, had caffeine withdrawal symptoms and provoked with drunk, trigger-happy _Mafiosi_ throwing insults and flame-powered weapons at no particular target, was not a happy Tsuna. The normally submissive, gentle man had Zero-Point Breakthrough'd the entire room after filling the room with his flames, leaving them frozen for a week, cold for a month and forever traumatised by the sheer murderous intent Tsuna was capable of letting out.

It was also the reason why the Varia declines the invitations every year and the Guardians' property damage decreased by sixty per cent. This year however, Squalo steeled himself and came to the party to represent the Varia, due to him being the only one who could safely be called sane; very loud and eardrum-shattering, but sane nonetheless.

Back to the Christmas tree and the pile of humans underneath it, wrapping paper was flying all over the place as they tore open their presents. Tsuna and Reborn, however, had stayed right where they were and smiled at the sight of grown men and women with the faces of five-year-olds at Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory.

Kyouya was the first to reach his present (mainly because everybody else was terrified of him). Soon the intricate little bird was sitting in his palm, with Hibird pecking curiously at his new avian companion. He nodded graciously at Tsuna before tossing his present in the middle of the floor, signalling that this was the place where the rest of Tsuna's presents would go and he would be the last to open his.

Ryohei was next. He held his books triumphantly in the air and promised he would read them so extremely he would know each word by heart by the end of the year. In fact, right after he put Tsuna's present beside Kyouya's he sat down and began to read.

Takeshi laughed joyously at his new baseball glove and the print-outs, his voice tinkling in a way that was rarely heard after his brief career in professional baseball. He promised to make good use of it and the first one to see his new gloves were to be Tsuna.

Mukuro shook his head good-naturedly at his gift but admitted they would make possession much easier and would not need flames to hide his eye any more. Because of this he let Tsuna off that year from becoming his next puppet.

Chrome gave Tsuna a small peck on the cheek and let him know that the white lilies were lovely and she will sleep with the owl plush by her pillow from then on. She then went to the kitchen and got the flowers a vase while holding the plush protectively to her chest.

Enma thanked Tsuna profusely and said he had saved him from yet another year of strangling himself with the evil piece of thick ribbon. That way Adeleid wouldn't yell at him again and he'll look classy at the same time.

Dino immediately put his new watch on and commented that it went wonderfully with his taste in clothing, though he mourned jokingly about running out of excuses to be late.

Kyoko and Haru, inspired by Chrome, also gave Tsuna kisses. They offered to make the meals in the recipes for his birthday and clipped the bracelets on while admiring their new jewellery as it sparkled in the light of the fire.

Lambo sighed in relief as he saw his new wallet. He put his on-hand cash in it right away and wrapped his _Aniki _in a warm embrace, thanking him for the gift and all he had done for the Bovino. Tsuna smiled warmly and told him that he was the younger brother he never had.

Squalo rolled his eyes at the alcohol he was given, but after being told that his new comb was actually bought from an exotic market and was hand-carved from shark teeth, he was a lot happier and thought about how his hair liked to strangle him in his sleep if he didn't brush it well and braid it.

Lal Mirch was not very excited at her new scope as she was more of a close-range fighter, but nonetheless accepted it in good graces. Colonello however, was ecstatic and announced that he would try it out as soon as he could, which was the next morning.

I-Pin loved her new fan. She could use it as just decoration, or when she is hot, and noted that the fan was very durable and may even be used in battle. She was so happy upon that revelation that her thanks came out as a jumble of mandarin and ill-pronounced Italian with random Japanese thrown in.

Upon uncovering his helmet Skull screamed in the voice of the Immortal Skull, the one the Reaper rejects and Hell fears. The helmet was to be used on his next stunts show and Tsuna was promised a seat in the front row, with a backstage pass and an autograph. He got kicked by Reborn for that one.

Bianchi smiled at her new cooking utensils and asked Kyoko and Haru whether they would like to use them with their new recipes. The three decided that they will be mastered in time for Tsuna's next birthday and Bianchi promised to keep them poison-free.

As soon as Shouichi un-wrapped his headphones he thanked Tsuna and gave Spanner his mini stereo for him to use on his new game. Spanner commented that he probably wouldn't end up playing it since it wasn't his kind of thing and Shouichi immediately dragged him to the nearest console, shoved the controller into his hands and threatened to set his plants on him if he didn't reach level ten by New Years and unlocked twenty achievements.

If Byakuran was disappointed by Tsuna's mega-pack of marshmallows, he sure didn't show it as half a second later he was munching happily on the white gooey stuff. He even shared them and stuck them on kebab sticks to roast on the fire and said that they were enough to last him a week.

Hayato, being the Right Hand Man matured over the years and was not as impulsive as before, hence he was one of the slower ones in reaching his present. His respect for Tsuna had not diminished, however, and he had kissed Tsuna's ring, knelt at his feet and swore to cherish that pen and use it with care, before pulling Tsuna into yet another hug.

By now the rest of the presents had been opened and they were all very happy with their loot, all except for Reborn and Tsuna. From the shapes of Reborn's presents the majority were gun-related or treats for Leon, and it was just Tsuna's present to go.

Leon licked happily at his ceramic counterpart and Reborn chuckled warmly at the words on his mug. Of course his idiot student would do this kind of thing-all his gifts clearly had a lot of thought put into them and he poured himself a cup of espresso right off the bat and drank from his new mug.

"Tequila," he said, clearly amused by his second gift. "You do realise that I am not nearly at the legal drinking age. Influencing minors to drink is illegal."

"Since when did that stop you?" Tsuna shot back. Reborn smirked and sipped more of his espresso, his cute student knew him so well.

Hayato gestured towards Tsuna's own pile of presents and Tsuna took the cue to get off his very comfortable beanbag, where it was immediately occupied by Nuts, Uri and Jirou. The first present was from Dino.

"Thought you might want a spare ring," Dino said. "Just in case. I know you've got Lancia's ring and the Vongola Sky ring but better safe than sorry, yeah?"

"Thanks Dino," said Tsuna and put it on. A sky flame came to life immediately and Tsuna knew it was expensive-it was definitely A-class.

Takeshi's was next. It was a woollen knit scarf, white in colour with red trimmings. "To go with those mittens of yours," he joked. Sure enough on one end were the numbers '27' and there was even a matching hat. Tsuna chuckled with him and put them on to try them out; they were soft and kept heat in well and was worn the next day on a morning walk.

The Arcobaleno got together and commissioned a tank with every single weapon of mass destruction possible attached. Colonello gave Tsuna the instruction manual and told him it would be parked somewhere in the Science Department with a large red covering. Tsuna laughed nervously and gave it to Hayato to read because he was sure his Storm could do a heck lot better than him at operating the behemoth of a vehicle.

Ryohei's present was a small case of balm. The accompanying letter said it was made with many different herbs and infused with his sun flames, so whenever he gets injured just smearing some on will help it heal. Tsuna used some on a bruise gotten when he banged his knee on his desk corner and the effect was instantaneous. There was very little of it, but that made it even more precious.

Kyouya brought some tea leaves in from Japan. He commented that imported tea tastes like crap and if he was going to hold meetings with him he should have at least decent tea. Tsuna agreed and poured some right on the spot; the fresh smell of green tea reminded him of Namimori-of home, and a small tear made its way to his eyes.

Chrome had given him a small jar filled with mist flames and with help from the science department the flames gave off an illusion that resembled a lake full of lotus flowers. It was given a place on Tsuna's bedside drawer.

Lambo got him a bag of grape candy and fancy Bovino grenades. It was just so typical of Lambo Tsuna had to laugh, but the cow-teen secretly told Tsuna that one grenade had the firepower or a thousand sticks of TNT and Tsuna gulped and hoped he would never need to use them.

Mukuro's present was not really a present. He gave Tsuna a small roll of indigo tickets and explained that each ticket represents a favour. He could send him to Antarctica, give him a shoulder massage, and infiltrate another Family or whatever else within a certain limitation. Tsuna was slightly creeped out by the thought of getting a massage from Mukuro, but he used a ticket that night to keep Kyouya from killing Ryohei with his bare hands.

Squalo's present was on behalf of all the members of the Varia. It was a pair of handguns similar to Xanxus' own. That and the strongest alcohol they could get their hands on in the hopes they could see Tsuna getting plastered. He never did.

I-pin's present consisted of little Chinese snacks she made herself. Tsuna tried one and told her it was delicious and she should make more for him next year.

Bianchi had made him a cheesecake. It was the purest white with specks of mandarins peppered through a light fluffy cake base, sweet, creamy cheese top and decorated with fresh, ripe orange pieces. Tsuna was almost tempted to eat it but the second it was cut open heavy purple fumes flooded the room and it was secretly slid into a vacuumed bag and disposed of as toxic waste.

Haru made him a fedora. Reborn demanded for it to be worn and all present agreed that it suited Tsuna well. There was even a small picture of Nuts sewn underneath the orange ribbon and Reborn tried it on himself to see if it fit him as well as his own. Leon certainly approved.

Kyoko got two identical simple jade pendants and gave one to Tsuna. She explained that as long as you have the jade on you, the two who hold them will never be apart. This was met by a lot of blushing on Tsuna's part and he slid it into the good luck charm he got from her so many years ago, while Kyoko wore her own round her neck.

Upgrades were given to Tsuna's contact lenses. They now had four more modes, set for infra-red, ultra-violet and night and heat vision. Tsuna thought this was overkill, but accepted them anyway and asked the two scientists to make more for his guardians.

Enma, poor Enma, had forgotten to bring his present as he was in a hurry and it was left at his place, but it was promptly mailed over the next day and it was revealed to be a copy of Vongola Primo's pocket watch, with a card that featured a penguin in a Santa hat wishing him a Merry Christmas from all the Shimon.

Hayato got his boss a normal, non-flame-shooting handgun for everyday use. There will be circumstances when civilians were around and flames cannot be used for self-defence. He understood that Jyuudaime hated guns and hurting people and if he didn't want it he was free to destroy it or give it to someone else, but Tsuna looked at his new Colt M1911A1 in sad understanding, thanked him and clipped it to his belt.

"My present is separate from the other Arcobaleno, Tsuna." Reborn held out a large parcel for Tsuna to open, and open it he did.

Inside was a cardboard box filled to the brim with letters and journals. Upon opening one it was revealed to be a diary Nana used back in her teenage years.

Tsuna didn't dare breathe. His hands picked a letter up so slowly it was as if the world ceased to move around him. Takeshi was by his side in a flash, a hand on his shoulder to ground him. He opened the letter carefully, as if it was made of sugar glass, and began to read.

That letter was from Nana's pen-pal from Vietnam, who described her school life and the cute boy the year above her. The grammar was abysmal, but the point got across easily and Tsuna put it back in the envelope, still not breathing, and opened a journal. Hayato and Chrome took the contents out from the box and began to sort them into piles, diaries on one side and letters in the other.

An entry by Nana recorded the day when she graduated high school. Another on a bad day when the weather was bad, and a girl was mean to her, and a picnic with Grandma and Grandpa, the day the new cake shop opened…

And her first meeting with one Sawada Iemitsu.

This was written when Nana was nineteen and working part-time as a waitress in a restaurant. She was just finishing an order from an elderly couple when she was called to take some new guests to their seats.

She described Iemitsu as 'tall and dashing, and didn't look Japanese. Beautiful golden hair and a sunny smile.' She was the one to deliver their drinks and meal, and was also the one to collect the bill. She managed to overhear some of the conversation between him and a middle-aged European man, but it was in a language she did not understand.

The two frequented the restaurant and Iemitsu didn't hesitate to call her 'charming and beautiful', to Nana's embarrassment and delight. Westerners, it seemed, were more open about that kind of thing.

One day after work Iemitsu was at the entrance alone with an umbrella. It was pouring buckets and Iemitsu was worried that a delicate woman such as her might get sick, and it was also late. Who knew what kind of people were around?

He walked her home. When asked the reason, he just said it was in his blood to protect innocent maidens from harm. Nana likened this to be like a fairy tale.

Gradually their relationship shifted from customer to acquaintance to friend, and eventually lovers. Their wedding was held in Namimori and was written as the 'sweetest thing that had ever happened to me' by Nana. Iemitsu's job description changed from 'secretary' to 'construction worker', and Nana had her suspicions that her husband was not completely honest about his work.

But she didn't mind, not really. As long as he was working hard and loved her, that was all she needed.

By then the journal had run out of pages and Tsuna had tears stinging at his eyes, demanding to be released. He put the journal down gently and with great haste picked up another, one that had his picture stuck on the cover.

This time, he let the tears flow. Reborn had sat down beside him and let Tsuna lean against his thirteen-year-old body. The rest, having caught on to what was happening, had become silent and crowded near Tsuna, lending their support. Nuts leapt into Tsuna's lap and purred gently in the hopes of comforting his master.

The first entry was smudged heavily by ink and tear stains. Nana's emotions were laid bare-joy and fear and love all jumbled up as she wrote about when she found out she was pregnant and how Iemitsu reacted. The couple had panicked and spent the whole day spilling drinks and dropping plates and barely got any sleep, but they realised then that they were to have a child, and they were going to have a family.

Iemitsu had cried. He sobbed into her chest and she could feel his warm tears drenching her top and he apologised. He was a nervous wreck and held her close and he didn't know what to do and he spent an entire afternoon chanting the Hail Mary with his rosary in English and Italian. Through the entire duration of her pregnancy, every day he made the sign of the cross and said the Lord's Prayer twice. He told her that it will be difficult, and his job doesn't allow him to stay in one place so he cannot stay with her all the time. Nana understood and she didn't care. As long as he loved her and their –now revealed- baby boy, she would be content.

_It felt like my insides exploded. Anata heard me scream and drove me to the hospital as quick as he could as he whispered an Italian prayer to himself all the way. It was excruciatingly painful and seemed to last for hours, but as soon as I heard that cry it seemed to make it all worth it…_

Kyoko had begun to cry too and clung to Tsuna like a lifeline.

_When he opened his eyes I felt like I was in front of an angel. They were a beautiful honey colour and on his head was a little turf of brown. Iemitsu had finished his prayer and we cried together. _

Hayato sat down beside Tsuna and held his hand. Takeshi squeezed his shoulder gently to remind him that they were there and they were going through this together.

_He said he was the happiest man in the universe._

Mukuro had gone back to fireplace with Squalo. The two didn't know how to react in this kind of situation.

_And he was so proud, so happy and I was so proud. He was our child!_

Chrome leaned into Kyouya unconsciously and he reacted by _not _biting her to death. Instead he let Hibird rest on her head.

_We called him Tsunayoshi, and all our families came to celebrate his birthday. Father had cried too and we felt so sad that Mother was not there to see him, but we were happy because we were alive to see Tsunayoshi come into this world. He had the cutest little hands…_

The atmosphere was heavy now. Each one of them was solemn and was quiet, save the occasional sigh at the front from the ones reading with Tsuna.

The journal continued through Nana's adult life. About how Tsuna grew and how adorable he was. Because of how tender he was he began to attract bullies and his grades went down and how he infuriated her sometimes, but he made up for it by being humble and did try to make her happy.

And one day she found out Iemitsu's real line of work.

Nana was in a cleaning mood that day and went to tidy up the study, there being where Iemitsu worked for three years before heading abroad. It was filled with paperwork. Most of them were innocent enough, just bank accounts and passports, but as she was putting them away in a drawer there was a folder labled 'CLASSIFIED'.

She tucked it in the back of her mind until Iemitsu came back for a vacation. He laughed and goofed all through the day, but she knew he was always awake at night. So she made him coffee first thing in the morning-he would still be working then- and each time the 'CLASSIFIED' folder was on the table, open.

Curiosity ate at her. She didn't mean to pry. She thought she could help him with his work load.

It was all in Italian, but she learnt a few words from the Italian action movies Iemitsu liked to watch and every page had the words 'neutralise', 'Family', and 'CEDEF' come up at least once. 'Vongola' was also mentioned along with 'Moretti', and the Moretti were an infamous bunch in the Underworld.

From then on she didn't record anything else in her journal about the Mafia in fear of them being discovered and scratched through the entry about her discovery, but at the very end of the journal was this-

_No matter what, I love Iemitsu with all my heart. Couples have secrets too, but I can't help but feel worried for Tsu-kun…his daddy's job isn't the safest in the world. He might get hurt and someone as clumsy as he is could easily get into an accident. He already has enough worries at it is and I feel following his daddy's footsteps might not be the best for him. I hope Darling can keep Tsu-kun out of the 'construction' career and into something less physical, but Tsu-kun's grades might not make it._

_On the other hand, Kojima-san is pregnant! I still remember the day when I discovered I was going to have Tsu-kun! It seems as fresh as yesterday. It is very difficult but I will give her all the help she needs. I still have a few of Tsu-kun's old baby toys in the attic as well as his cradle._

_I pray that everything will be alright. It worked for Darling after all._

There were no more entries. The journal was closed.

Along with some letters from Nana's parents and birthday cards there were love letters and post cards from Iemitsu, but Tsuna didn't feel like reading them then.

"Thank you," He said with a small watery smile. "Thank you so much, Reborn. I love it."

Reborn said nothing, but sipped another mouthful of his cooling espresso from his black, Leon-handled mug.

Only Hayato, Takeshi and Reborn remained with Tsuna when the others decided to retreat to their rooms. The four sat in comfortable silence, drinking their hot chocolate or espresso and watching the fire flicker on the wood. Takeshi tapped gently on his manga while Hayato rested his feet on the swordsman's legs, puzzling over a complicated Sudoku puzzle. For hours, only the crackling of the fire and the scratching of graphite on paper were audible.

"I don't think I can work at all today," said Takeshi conversationally. Hayato made a small grunt through his cigarette and finished his seventh puzzle in twenty minutes.

"Well, it is Christmas. I don't think anybody is working today."

"You'll still have training," said Reborn. "Two drills in Training room six and we need to get Tsuna used to his new gun."

"Can't that wait till tomorrow?" Tsuna groans. "It's _Christmas."_

"And that concerns me how?"

"Grinch."

He got a whack on the head for his efforts.

They were silent again till Tsuna spoke up. "Where did you find them?"

"Find what?"

"_Kaa-san's _stuff," said Tsuna. He curled his fingers through Nuts' mane. "I thought Iemitsu took everything."

"He forgot to check the attic."

"I doubt he even knew there was an attic," Hayato muttered. "He was decent in CEDEF but everything else…"

"We can all forget things sometimes," said Takeshi neutrally. "But it's a good thing he forgot this, isn't it? We got to know a bit more about Nana-san."

"He really did love _Kaa-san,_" Tsuna murmured. "I guess a lot more than I thought."

"True, but what kind of bastard looks over his live son for his dead wife?" Hayato spat. "It's a good thing Basil took over. Uri couldn't stand him."

"These people are everywhere Hayato," Takeshi said resignedly. "You only realise how important someone is when you lose them."

Tsuna closed his eyes, and within seconds he was in his mindscape.

It was no longer filled with bloodied teacups or thunderstorms or dying plant life. That day it was covered in snow and he had Takeshi's scarf round his neck.

Opposite him were his other twenty-three year old self and his ancestor, Giotto. Both were happily discussing the merits of having intelligent right-hand men and how they were a blessing in the life of a boss.

"Oh hello there," Decimo Tsuna said. "How was your day?"

"You already know, Decimo." Giotto replied through a crumpet. "You lived through it already just now."

"Shut up, Primo."

"Well, it was nice I guess."

"You guess?" Said Decimo. "Do tell."

"At first it was all fine and dandy," Said Tsuna as he swirled his cup of tea. "We were opening our presents when Reborn gave me _Kaa-san's _old diaries and letters…"

"Oh yeah," Decimo says sympathetically. "Your _Kaa-san _was killed…still need to get used to that…"

"How was it?" Asked Giotto. "Was it difficult?"

"Kinda," Tsuna replied. "Takeshi said that people only realise someone is important when they're gone…I guess I felt like that too. Before I thought she was a bit pushy and smothering…"

"I still feel like that, even if she's on a world-round trip with _Tou-_um, Iemitsu." Decimo coughed awkwardly. "At least my life isn't as bad as yours, I guess…"

"That's not true," Said Tsuna comfortingly. "You still have to deal with massive stacks of paperwork. With me at everyone can get along relatively fine, but on your side put Kyouya and Mukuro in the same _building _and they start going at each other's throats."

Decimo twitched. "They destroyed the east wing today. Again."

"But it does make you appreciate the guardians that _don't _destroy east wings?" Giotto asked.

"My guardians are like time bombs on legs. All of them. At least Knuckle isn't so extreme he's willing to demolish skyscrapers because Alaude wouldn't be his drinking buddy."

"True," said Giotto. "Besides the destruction, how was your Christmas?"

"It was actually pretty good besides the usual food poisoning and suicidal party games," Decimo answered. "But someone had the brilliant idea of giving Yamamoto a baseball and a pitching machine. I didn't know little leather balls could go through granite and marble before."

Tsuna and Giotto winced. More repairs.

"One shot got really close to Gokudera-kun, so he lit a stick of dynamite. Yamamoto sent it over to the other end of the room where Hibari-san _just had to be _and he began biting us all to death. Mukuro didn't like that so those two decimated the dining room, one of Mukuro's illusion snakes bit Lambo and _he _began electrocuting us all, and Gokudera-kun lit yet _another _stick of dynamite that left a crater in the middle of the room. Onii-san chose that moment to come back from the toilet, fell into the crater, got angry with Gokudera-kun and his extremity annoyed Hibari-san and then there was a massive brawl." Decimo's head flopped on to the table. "Yamamoto tried to break the fight up with his Vongola box, but then Lambo destroyed his pitching machine and _he _went on a murderous rampage. And then all of them used Cambio Forma, destroyed half the place and I have to stay with the _Varia."_

"At least Chrome didn't do anything, right?" Tsuna tried.

"She didn't do anything." Decimo poured himself some whiskey and downed it in one shot. "God, my wrist aches from just _writing _all day. The one person who can sympathise with me is Squalo of all people…"

"So you appreciate her more?" Giotto said. "She didn't try to kill anybody right?"

Decimo nodded lifelessly. On his hand were multiple paper-cuts and callouses from the pen rubbing against skin too many times.

"I know I appreciate my guardians a lot more now."

"And yours are all alive," sighed Giotto.

"At least being dead doesn't give you more to write," griped Decimo. "Not only that, Squalo's going on a break tomorrow to train somewhere in Mongolia and I'll have to deal with the Varia's paperwork too."

"That can't be too bad. It's just a few documents and recruitment papers right?"

"Wrong!" Decimo screams. "Do you know how volatile Xanxus is? One burnt steak and he could level a small village! Belphegor's homicidal tendencies land me a court case every month, and Lussuria usually gets the dead bodies to do who-knows-what with them so there are burial cases too!"

"I'm sorry I asked," Giotto sighed. "So much or a merry Christmas."

Decimo sighed too. "They're so violent and insane it's a wonder how I'm still relatively normal." Then a small smile. "But I wouldn't have them any other way-if they were any different they wouldn't be my Guardians. Even if I do want to strangle them all."

A round of chuckles went around the table.

"If only we can learn to cherish what we have without a tragedy happening," Giotto said softly. "Perhaps we could have changed the world into something brighter."

"Well, I need to get up or Reborn will shoot me again and I won't have anything to brighten up, sorry. Merry Christmas, Other me, Primo-san."

"Merry Christmas," they echoed back. "Have a good new year."

"May your year be void of repair bills," Decimo says.

"Yours too."

The first thing Tsuna does upon waking up is to pull his two best friends in a bear hug. "Thank you," said Tsuna. "Thank you for not making my life hell."

"Uh…you're welcome?" Takeshi replied and for once was just as confused as Hayato.

"I just realised how lucky I was," said Tsuna. "I have normal, somewhat sane friends, a manageable workload and I have food and shelter, I have people who I love and who can love be back, a trustworthy tutor, I have the power to keep them safe…" Tsuna breaks away from the hug and smiles. "Today, all I want to do is hang out and do stupid things with you guys. That cool?"

"Sure thing, Tsuna-san." Hayato tosses his Sudoku to one side and a genuine smile lights up his face. "I can look up some drinking games."

While the three debates on whether or not it's a good idea to trap Kyouya and Chrome under the mistletoe and risk Mukuro's wrath, Reborn gives a secretive smile no pre-teen could ever make and gazes outside. Church bells had begun to ring and the winter sky was dyed in various pinks and yellows and oranges.

He spied Bianchi, Kyoko, Haru and I-pin walking away from Vongola property, most likely on yet another shopping trip. Colonello was cleaning his rifle, ready to test out his new scope while Lal sat beside him, unusually patient and looks on as Colonello's skilled hands clicked each piece into the rifle with ease.

Dino and Enma were readying themselves to go home. They both had their own Families to spend Christmas with and Enma looked ready to test out his new tie. Skull had rode away before anyone else can do him bodily harm.

The rest were out of Reborn's perception range, but he was pretty sure they were booking tickets back to Namimori and will leave the next day. But for now, Reborn took out his planner, called all the guardians together, and they all had a wonderful time bonding over spikes and bullets in training room 6.

All in all, it was a pretty good year.

* * *

_But exactly ten years and six months ago, __Reborn arrives at CEDEF headquarters with a grim expression. He usually wasn't the one delivering bad news, he was the cause of it._

_Iemitsu is at his desk half-writing and half-fawning over a photograph._

"_Nana's dead", says Reborn. Short, sweet and to the point._

_Iemitsu turns and bursts into loud obnoxious laughter._

"_Oh Reborn," he chuckles, "April Fools is a long way away. I remember when you said that on my birthday and got blackmail. I'm not falling for it again."_

_Reborn lowers his fedora and shows a picture._

_It is a photograph of Nana's body, twisted and painted with blood and bruises in an abandoned warehouse. Of course, the murderers and subsequently the Family (that was coincidentally not on the best terms with the Vongola at the time) was dealt with within the hour. Reborn also gave an autopsy report straight from professionals; two gunshots in the chest area, the second penetrated the right lung and Nana most likely died drowning in her own blood rather than the gunshots._

_She had been buried in the local cemetery._

_Iemitsu stares._

"_No," he whispers, "Not Nana. Not my sweet Nana."_

"_My condolences," says Reborn plainly. "The perpetuators have been neutralised-"_

"_No!" Iemitsu screams, and his head slams down on his desk and beside the family photo, knocking it and the mug full of coffee over. "Nana-Nana, oh __Merde__ Nana! Why! She didn't deserve this!"_

_Oregano and Basil rush in._

"_Master?" Basil asks, "What have thou discovered that caused thee such distress?"_

"_His wife just died," says Reborn. They know that although Iemitsu was an idiot with the IQ of a brick, he loved his wife more than anything. They stay there silently while the man in front of them cries and mourns. A full half hour passes before he recovers and his eyes are stony and cold._

"_You say they have been eradicated." Reborn nods. "Very well," Iemitsu says and rights the photograph and his coffee. "Oregano, deal with the necessary paperwork. After cleaning everything out of the house sell it. I won't be staying there again."_

_As Oregano is about to head out of the door Reborn cuts in. "What about your son?"_

_Iemitsu's expression turns downright frightening and Reborn looks back with emotionless black eyes. Nobody glares at him. "Oh, my Tuna-fish," says Iemitsu and keeps on writing. "Please make sure he is sent to a good carer Reborn. And be sure he does not encounter the underworld again."_

"_That's impossible, stupid. He is the heir and you're just going to give him to God-knows-who without consulting Timeteo. And here I thought you actually had a brain."_

"_I don't deserve to be his father," Iemitsu says bitterly. "I have not seen or heard from him for years, I was never around. Nana was all he had and it'll be better for him when we leave him with someone who knows what they're doing-"_

"_You resent him for taking Nana away from you," Reborn finishes for him. "You resent that he was there that night and Nana would have gotten away. You resent him for taking up all her time and without him she would be here in Italy."_

_Iemitsu says nothing._

"_It isn't his fault," Reborn scolds harshly, "It was yours. You married her knowing full well she would be drawn into the Mafia and that your child wasn't going to live a normal life. "_

"_Nono promised he would seal Tsuna's flames and take care of any assassins," Iemitsu argues. "Hibari Takumi should have-"_

"_Hibari passed away from a road accident years ago along with his wife," Reborn replies. "Right now his son is the one in charge of Namimori with a pack of delinquent middle schoolers. The town is hardly protected. I believe you were the one responsible for placing new protection."_

"_I never received word about this!" Iemitsu cries. Oregano steps up to the desk and from a huge, cobwebbed tower of past-due paperwork she draws three neatly stapled files and hands them to her boss. _

"_It was a hit-and-run, sir." Oregano says curtly, "The driver was distracted by his child and was fined over a million yen. There were no casualties on his side."_

"_The state of your paperwork is abysmal," Reborn comments. "Oregano, get me a flight back to Japan, write a letter to Timeteo and give this note to Lal. Iemitsu, we're keeping the house. Kid needs something to remind him of his mother."_

"_Of course Reborn. The next flight will be in two hours, or would you like a private jet?"_

"_Jet. Don't screw it up."_

* * *

**And of course, reviews are my lifeblood and each one helps to inspire me. Once again, have a wonderful Christmas and I'll see you in 2013!**


	4. Deja Vu

**A/N I really should give up on giving myself deadlines. They never work.** **Hopefully I made up for it with this chapter!**

**This fic was meant to just be a Hurt/Comfort thing where the Guardians slowly nurse Tsuna back to how he was and then some, but, well...a plot bunny invaded my head and it was all like 'Hey, you know what would be awesome? This!' So yeah, that's what I did.**

**Lemme tell ya it's hard to try and balance fact with fiction. In Italy the Mafia are powerful, but they never flaunted it like the Vongola did with a jillion black-clad men swarming outside a house or with a massive mansion in the middle of nowhere. They never kidnapped and very few assassins exist since they don't want the police getting suspicious. The money isn't made from drug cartels but rather from pimping, illegal construction and illegal waste disposal. The Italian government is pretty annoyed with them since they don't seem to care jack about the environment, preferring to toss toxic waste and garbage on the side of highways. You'd never know who was a Mafioso or who wasn't since they never even speak about family affairs without a third party both trust present. When they're underground, they MEAN it. A lot of current information are from rumours, speculation and defectors. Plus they mainly operate in Sicily and rarely let foreigners, sometimes not even fellow Italians join.**

**But hey, Rule of Cool and all that.**

* * *

_Look_, they whisper, _it's Dame Tsuna._

_Dame-Tsuna._

_I thought he dropped out?_

_Didn't you hear? His mum died._

_Must've been fed up of her useless son and fled to Heaven._

_Dame-Tsuna._

"Ignore them," Reborn instructed. "Keep your head high. Shoulders back, legs straight. Keep your line of sight forward. Looking down implies inferiority."

Easier said than done, Tsuna thought hopelessly but did so nonetheless. In front of all those people he just felt like shrinking into a little ball and scurry into a hole somewhere, but it was still better than a barrel in your face.

Two months it had been since Nana passed away and the ache still lingered, as strong as before. It seemed unreal to return to an empty shell of a house stripped of all but the bare necessities and two cold, dangerous strangers; even more so when the smell of Nana's shampoo still hung tight to the wallpaper and carpet in a way not even Vongola's finest could get rid of lest they rebuild the house from scratch.

He was released only two days ago and he was already tired. Tired of the world, tired of himself, tired of everything. And unlike back in the hospital he was alone. Yamamoto had a game to prepare for and Gokudera went abroad to Peru to study.

He tripped over a loose shoelace and fell head-first to the pavement, spilling pencils and books everywhere. But this time nobody laughed. Nobody made fun of him. Someone actually helped him up. But between the uneasy pity and outright malice, he would choose having his head bashed into lockers every day of his life within a heartbeat if it meant having his mother back.

He was empty as his house; cold, sterile, bare.

"Focus, Tsuna." Reborn snapped from his ear piece. "You're looking down again."

"Sorry," He mumbled back and paused in front of his classroom. Like Reborn said, he repeated again and again. Shoulders back and head up. Look forward. Shoulders back, head up, look forward. Back, up and forward. Legs straight. He looked at his reflection in the glass; not confident enough. He needed to relax a bit, but when he looked into the chaos and merriment beyond the door all the courage he could muster disappeared.

"Tsuna," Coaxed Reborn, "Don't let those dregs get to you. This isn't about being confident, it's about fixing your posture. Confidence will come when you are ready."

"I-oh, okay," Tsuna stuttered and tried again. Reborn had been on about posture all month and it wasn't like he had a choice. He kept his eyes focused on one point and pushed his shoulders back as far as he could manage. The spine would straighten along with them. He clicked his heels together, the toes pointing directly forward and breathed deeply and slowly, halting all thought. Just focus on the breathing, he thought. Confidence will come when he is ready.

One would wonder how a meek, skinny boy would transform into someone so different, but Nezu-sensei just had to ruin it.

"Sawada," He growled, "Back from your little vacation I see."

Instant silence fell across the room, for the teacher had opened the door and his voice was loud enough the reach Hibari Kyouya two floors up. Tsuna instantly drew back, utterly mortified.

"Sensei," Tsuna mumbled, "I-I was just-"

"Preening like a little peacock, eh? Soaking up the pity like a filthy little sponge, eh? Got a bit of an ego now Mummy's gone and kicked the bucket? You are a hopeless child," Nezu snarled. "Seeing you ruffle your feathers proudly while peeking at your sympathetic friends raises my blood pressure far too high. I can only wonder where Nana-san, bless her poor soul, went wrong with you." The looks from his classmates were of barely concealed disgust. "Sit down, I have a class to teach and you are just wasting everyone's time."

Something cracked, and the brunet just stared, barely listening. He wasn't even frightened any more, just…numb. Utterly numb. He was detached from his body and the words just echoed pointlessly. He was not even aware of what he was doing, but just knew he had to. "No," he whispered softly. "No. Not sitting."

"Sawada Tsunayoshi," Nezu warned. "Sit down or I will have to book you a detention with Hibari-san."

Tsuna smiled. He was a doll, plastic and hollow, still. He was calm, serene almost as the numbness set into his very bones. "Not sitting," he repeated quietly. "I have to go."

Nobody moved.

"Not sitting," Tsuna said once again, a soft, faraway smile on his face and his eyes looking away into a distant realm only he could see. "I'm leaving."

"Sawada if you do not sit down this very instant-"

But Tsuna had already turned around, his stride purposeful and a small lift at the corners of his mouth. A faint buzzing echoed around in his skull, but the emptiness he felt was so rare and so peaceful and so, so very good, and he just kept on walking. Walking and walking, confidently-the confidence did come-and purposefully and utterly devoid of all emotion.

As soon as he reached the school gates he broke into a manic dash.

His earpiece was still ringing, so he threw it down the drain. His bag was heavy, so he left it in the middle of the road for some car to go over. When he fell, he just ignored it and dragged himself back up and did not let himself feel the piece of gravel scraping against the inside of his eyelid. When his lungs began to burn and his throat stuck to itself from the lack of moisture he just laughed. He was not aware he was shedding tears nor his nails dug into his hands so hard they bled. He just knew he had to go. He had to start anew.

Once he began running every second of the last ten minutes suddenly exploded into a cloud of shame and fear. What was he to do? Reborn would shoot him for sure and this time he might really be killed. Maybe it was better if he disappeared, actually. It would be easier on everyone.

But then he saw a boy.

He was pale and skinny with bags around his lifeless eyes. His face was adorned with countless freckles and his rust-like hair drooped from grease and dirt, with the latter covering an entire layer over his skin.

The boy looked up.

We are the same, you and I. His eyes seemed to say, we are alone.

And to the other boy, Tsuna's eyes were like that too.

"I'm Enma," he said.

"I'm Tsuna."

Grief did not have to be expressed by words alone. And meanwhile Yamamoto had returned from his game, almost camouflaged with all the grime he had accumulated. "Think I should take a celebratory shower in honour of our victory?"

"A celebratory what," the other replied flatly.

"Don't be like that 'Dera!" Said Yamamoto cheerfully and slung a dust-caked arm over Gokudera's shoulder. "We won the regionals! Five to One! It's a huge success! Plus you finally came back from your studies abroad! C'mon, last one in is a rotten egg!"

"What the fuck?!" Gokudera hollered, utterly mortified, "I ain't getting in a shower with you, baseball freak! Lemme go!"

"But everyone's in there," said Yamamoto innocently.

"The whole fucking _team _is in the shower?!"

"We won, duh."

"How in the sweet name of the Lord does that have anything to do with that-"

"You two." Gokudera stopped his rant half-way and they turned to a grim faced Reborn. "Tsuna is gone."

"Hi there kiddo," said Yamamoto. "How are you?"

"Tsuna is gone," Reborn repeated.

"Eh?"

"Sawada is missing, you Neanderthal."

He dropped his bat. "I beg your pardon? He's gone? Gone where?"

"I don't know," replied Reborn. "Find him."

Gokudera just took out a cigarette and turned away. "I don't own him shit," he said and took a drag. "Let the bitch do what he wants."

"Gokudera."

But the green-eyed teen had already disappeared. Yamamoto looked down the road, at the team showers, then down the road again. He tossed his glove down. "It's okay kid," he reassured. "He'll come round eventually. I'll help in the meantime."

The baby nodded. "Follow me."

As the two headed in the opposite direction Gokudera heaved the smoke from his mouth. If Sawada had the balls to run away it meant only one thing; something shocking enough happened to temporarily manifest him a spine, and it wasn't pretty. Hayato himself knew from experience. As soon as the adrenaline rush stopped he had ducked in an alleyway between two houses, cried silently until his feet tingled from the shaking.

Sawada wouldn't survive a week.

Namimori might not be as bad as Sicily, but it still had its slums and shady sorts roaming around at night waiting for easy prey to cross their gaping jaws. The disciplinary committee can't do jack against the more agile yakuza. Not even Hibari could dodge a hundred bullets at once. Add the lack of food, shelter, and the coming of winter…well. No use crying over spilt milk.

But they were the same. No family, no friends, no anything.

Reborn might be borderline psychic, but only birds of a feather knew where to roost.

* * *

"It's cold."

Tsuna and Enma were squeezed against each other like baby penguins, shivering and chattering their teeth. Nobody came to the public restrooms there. Nobody would want to, when the walls were cracking and the plumbing failed and the stench of urea floated around like phantoms at their resting place. The walls were all covered in vulgar graffiti and wet toilet paper-turned-mache. It wasn't much better in the women's toilets where they were staying, but it had more stalls and one that was actually functional. Tsuna didn't even mind the smell anymore; his nose was used to it.

He and Enma mostly snuck snacks to eat from the market, but since it was closed in the winter they had to resort to bits of grass and tree bark cooked over a weak fire with pond water. Not exactly the epitome of living, but he had never felt more free.

No fear of failure when there was nothing to fail at. No jeering when he fell or walked into a tree, when there was someone who did the same and could help him up with a sheepish but genuine smile. No gun barrel in his face when he slouched even the slightest bit. No missing alarms and being late, no football in the face, no bullies threatening his dignity.

There was the fear of starving to death, of course, but there were plenty of trees in Namimori forest.

Something snapped outside and Enma stiffened.

"Did you hear that?" He whispered. "Someone's coming." Indeed footsteps came closer and closer.

"A logger on a bathroom break?"

"At three am in this weather?"

The door seemed to break into splinters and the handle clanged on the broken tiles. Tsuna shivered from the sudden cold. Enma was shivering too, but from terror or the chill no one knew. Heavy boots slammed against the cubicle door, actually bending the tough plastic.

"Get your ass out from there Sawada," Gokudera's voice shouted from outside, "I don't have all night to wait for you to grow a spine and crawl out from there!"

Enma looked at Tsuna with wide wary eyes, but he shook his head fiercely and pressed a finger to his mouth hastily. No, he'll take us back. Keep quiet.

"Fuck you," Gokudera snarled, "I ain't freezing my balls off just to drag you out from there! I'll count from five and if your sorry behind isn't in front of me by then I will just bomb that shitty door down!"

Bomb?! Tsuna didn't dare breathe.

"Five."

Enma looked pale as chalk.

"Four."

Tsuna was pretty sure his bladder would burst.

"Three."

And his kidneys.

"Two."

Enma curled up into a ball, as if it would somehow save him from certain destruction.

"One."

The two friends held each other tight.

"Zero."

Tsuna squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the explosion. It never came. "I-Fuck," Several minutes of utter silence passed. "Come out Sawada," said Gokudera, and this time his voice was soft. "I won't take you back to Reborn-san."

Another uncomfortable minute passed.

"Y-you won't?" Tsuna finally whispered, much to Enma's horror. He had pressed himself against the wall and made himself as small as possible.

"I won't," Gokudera promised, though every word seemed to pain him. "Come on. The soup will get cold."

"Soup?" Enma whispered hungrily and Gokudera was immediately tense.

"Who's there?" He growled and Tsuna almost buckled from the sheer hostility. "Show yourself!"

"Don't Gokudera-kun!" Tsuna screamed and flew from the cubicle and into Gokudera. "Don't hurt him! He doesn't have anything to do with me!"

"Sawada!" Gokudera snapped. "Off before I fucking make you!"

"He's harmless!" Tsuna rambled on desperately, "I just met him a few days ago! Reborn wouldn't know who he is-"

"I don't fucking care who he is or where he came from! Just get off me!"

"T-that's dynamite!" Enma cried from behind the door. "I-I-oh I-"

"Dynamite? G-Gokudera-kun, you were actually going to blow us up?!"

"No goddammit, look at the fucking wick! The tip isn't even singed!"

The redhead approached the orange tube warily like it was some savage beast.

"H-He's right Tsuna-kun," Enma stammered. "I-it's harmless now, I think. I mean, it's all w-wet from the water…"

"Oh…"

The tallest boy threw Tsuna off. "Great," he snapped. "Now put those fucking things on."

He had brought a lot of things along, Tsuna realised. He had brought sleeping bags, jackets, canned food and all sorts of things inside a huge camping bag, which he had emptied. "These are water-proof," he explained gruffly. "They've got a thick layer underneath you can zip on and off. I brought hiking boots too. I don't know your size so I just brought the average size. And drink this. It'll heat you up a bit"

"G-Gokudera-kun…"

"I'm not repeating it twice."

Tsuna put them on. "The boots are a bit big," he admitted shyly. "B-but I can lace 'em up tight so it won't feel like it." Gokudera glared at the other boy. "H-he's Kozato Enma," said Tsuna hurriedly. "H-he's just like me."

"Just like you, huh." Gokudera looked him up and down, but tossed the top layer of his own jacket off and threw it at Enma. "Put it on. I don't have boots for you. You'll just have to suck it up."

"T-thank you so much! I-I won't ever forget you b-but why? Why are you being so nice to us?"

And for the first time since Tsuna could remember, Gokudera looked…gentle. "You remind me of myself from a few years back," he admitted quietly, his voice still audible over the howling autumn wind. "I was born to a half-Japanese mother and a fully-Italian father. He was a wealthy, influential, serious man. They met at a bar my mother performed at and fell in love, despite Father already having married a woman. She was just as powerful as Father was.

"Mother refused to marry him since she was a fragile woman with poor health. But she was a kind, beautiful, wonderful musician and she came in a few times after I was born to teach me piano. I loved the lady who came and brought me presents and taught me music. But she died. I never knew she was my mother. I only discovered the truth through a few gossiping maids.

"Father and his wife had decided to end Mother's life, for she was a lowly pianist and should she blab about me being an illegitimate heir the family will surely fall. I ran. I ran into the streets of Sicily, where I was beat and sold and lived on leftover garbage."

"G-Gokudera-kun…"

"I wouldn't wish my enemies that life," he whispered. "I tried to earn money by using the few songs I knew how to play, but not one person would let me use their piano. I was eventually kidnapped and sold to a group of thugs, who then sold me to a black market doctor called Shamal. He was a an assassin and a pervert and everything in between, but he let me go after teaching me about explosives after taking a blood test and saw who my Father was. I barely got away, only because of my parentage. You two wouldn't stand a chance, not even you, Sawada."

"S-Sawada?!" Enma croaked. "Y-You're Sawada Iemitsu's son?!"

"You know tou-san?!"

"H-he was the one w-w-who k-killed…!"

"The External Advisor for CEDEF, a branch of the most powerful Mafia family in the world," Gokudera explained. "The Vongola. Its history of bloodshed and power is not something to be sneezed at."

"M-My dad…" Tsuna murmured in disbelief, "He's Mafia?"

"Don't wet your pants Kozato," Gokudera huffed. "The External Advisor disowned Sawada ages ago."

"He disowned you?!"

"I don't understand!" Tsuna burst. "Is that why they targeted kaa-san?! But why would he have to kill Enma-kun's parents? They were normal people right?"

"Tsuna…"

"I'm so sorry Enma-kun… I had no idea…Y-you can take it out on me if y-you want, I don't m-mind-"

"Enough," Gokudera snapped. "We can sort shit out later at my place. My ass is freezing cold and it's almost dawn. Let's make tracks before Reborn-san decides to search this place."

"R-right…"

"Kozato, you come too."

"Eh, r-really?"

"You thought I was just going to give you the jacket? That thing's fucking expensive. I'm just letting you borrow it for the time being."

"Yeah, I g-guess…"

They made their way down from the forest, taking care to avoid any security cameras on the way. Gokudera ushered them into his small apartment, where the paint flaked off and the water had bits of rust flowing through them, but it was all he could afford. He dragged Enma and Tsuna into the bathtub, wrinkling his nose at the dirt that made its way on the carpet, and left them to wash.

"…so after he disowned you two weeks ago, he killed the Kozatos…" said Gokudera slowly after the two finished their bath together (he barely had the money for a bath, never mind two). "This is bad. If CEDEF wanted someone dead they usually have a damn good reason to do so, otherwise a few puny civilians wouldn't be worth noticing."

"I dunno," Enma replied. "My Great-great grandparents were all born in Japan and they didn't have anything to do with Italy…Tsuna-kun? What do you think?"

Tsuna had his knees up to his chest and was wrapped in a thick blanket, and a waste basket full of tissues beside him. His face was puffy from all the crying he did. "…I'm so sorry, Enma-kun…"

"It's alright, Tsuna-kun." Enma smiled sadly, his own face just as swollen. "It wasn't your fault. You were hurt by Sawada Iemitsu too."

"B-But what if kaa-san's death made him so angry and depressed he took it out on your family-?"

"He wouldn't do that," Gokudera cut in. "Even the most powerful Mafiosi have people keeping tabs on them. Not only will Vongola Nono be pissed with him for catching the attention of the police for no good reason, but all of Vongola's enemies will also jump at the chance to bad-mouth them. And why fly all the way to Japan when there are illegal immigrants nearby? There are no obvious benefits to this at all."

"Wow Gokudera-kun, you're really good at this."

"Politics are vital to any mafia man."

"So what do we do now?" Enma said. "If me and Tsuna-kun stay here too long, Reborn will find us."

"He might even kill Kozato since he saw the External Advisor's face that night," Gokudera added. "'Leave no witnesses', that's extremely important."

"Then what do we do?"

"We could go to Italy," said Gokudera. "You're lucky I'm going back soon anyway otherwise I wouldn't have bothered. After that we'll move up North to the border between Italy and Switzerland. The further we get from Vongola territory the better. And when Reborn-san finds out I didn't bring you to him, and believe me he will, he would probably hunt me down too. So I will need to leave as well."

"Why did you come to Japan in the first place?" Tsuna asked curiously. "I mean, obviously you've got a decent life in Italy, so why…?"

Gokudera puffed out some smoke. "Reborn-san asked me to. He wanted me to test Vongola Decimo and see if he was worthy of the title." He glared at Tsuna. "Obviously you're not. Look at you. All bones and skin and not a malicious streak in you anywhere."

"M-ME?!" Tsuna shrieked. "V-Vongola D-D-Decimo?!"

Gokudera stared in surprise. "He didn't tell you?" Tsuna just sat silently with his tea. "Well," he continued, feeling a bit sorry for the boy, "Reborn-san is a famous assassin in the Mafia. He might look like a five-year-old, but he's the world's best hitman. He wasn't lying when he said he was going to be your tutor-Nono asked him to."

"…I can't be in the Mafia. I won't hurt anyone as long as I can help it," Tsuna said eventually from his cup of soup. "I…thank you very much, Gokudera-kun for having us. We'll pay you back somehow." Enma nodded. "You've done so much for us…I thought you were a mean person, but you're really a nice guy."

"You'll die as soon as you step on Italian soil. Wash your cups when you're done," Gokudera replied gruffly. "I'm going to go to bed. You two can stay here until I raise enough money to get you passports and get away from here."

"I think I can pay you back and have enough for passports," said Enma quietly. "Look."

He took out seven ancient rings from under his shirt and Gokudera's eyes widened. "There was a tremor near my place after it happened and I found those," Enma explained. "They look really expensive, don't they? And they're really heavy too, so I bet they're real and we can sell them for a good price. I was going to give them to my friends in Shimon Middle, but…well." He coughed. "And look there, it says SHIMON FAMILY under the stone. Weird, isn't it?"

"Family Rings," Gokudera hissed. "Where did you find them?"

"Eh?" Enma startled at the venomous edge in his voice, "Um…I found them in an old shrine I stayed at. I think the tremors must have loosened some kind of seal and the just popped out…"

Gokudera grabbed them and inspected them carefully. "No mistaking it," he murmured. "These are genuine Famiglia Rings, almost as old as the Vongola Rings." Pause. "But I've never heard of the Shimon Family. How did they get their hands on such powerful artefacts…" Enma shrugged. "We'll keep them," said Gokudera resolutely. He explained the history and importance of the Rings in the mafia briefly to the two confused orphans in front of him. "They're powerful. Don't sell them. Don't wear them. Don't tell anyone else about them. If they're anything like the Vongola Rings they must hold some sort of power."

"I put one on before," Enma admitted. "I felt something strange." He took the biggest one from the pile and it glowed a bloody orange. "See?"

"What on earth," Tsuna gasped, "Are you okay, Enma-kun?"

"I'm fine," said Enma, as if he were in a trance. "Great, even. I feel…calm. Powerful."

"Can you do anything with it?" Gokudera prompted.

"I…um, back in the shrine when everything started to collapse, the part I was sitting under didn't budge," said Enma. "And it was all cracked and everything. I was really surprised." Gokudera took out a badly chipped mug and put it in front of him.

"Do something with it," demanded Gokudera. Enma shrugged and pointed his hand at the mug uncertainly.

"For some reason," he said slowly, "I feel like I can make it float…" The mug glowed as well and one corner lifted a little off the dirty carpet. The others scrambled rapidly to the other end of the room.

"U-UMA!" Gokudera spluttered madly, glueing himself to the wall. "He's an UMA!"

The mug lifted off the carpet.

"Oh my God," said Tsuna weakly, his voice all wobbly and jello-like, "What on earth are those rings?"

"We really can't let anyone else know about them," said Gokudera, pale as a ghost. "If the Mafia got their grubby mitts on them…" Enma let the mug down slowly and Gokudera grabbed the ring and put it on himself. "Nothing's happening," he said. "What about the others?"

"I tried on the others too," said Enma. "Nothing happened with them either." Tsuna tried the largest ring on too, to no effect. "It looks like only the orange one works and only I can use it…"

"Maybe it takes some kind of special trait to activate each ring?" Tsuna suggested. He had spilt his tea all over himself but right now he couldn't care less. Gokudera looked thoughtful.

"Keep those on you at all times," he instructed. "We need to get those as far from Mafia territory as possible."

"That's right," Tsuna agreed, "Who knows what they can do with those?"

"Maybe I should just wear this one," said Enma. "I want to see what else I can do with it."

"I have some chains you can use to wear it round your neck. Keep it under your shirt."

"R-right…"

"B-but the Vongola-"

"I'm a neutral party," said Gokudera while looking through his extensive collection of silver. "My father was never allied to the Vongola, but he never opposed it either. I'm just an assassin-for-hire who Reborn-san picked to test you since we're the same age."

Enma squeezed into his sleeping bag. "But how will we get away from him?" He said fearfully, "Reborn's really sharp, right?"

"We can't get away using planes or trains," Tsuna said softly. "It'll leave a record. He'll find us in no time."

Gokudera nodded approvingly. "You do have a brain after all," he said. "He hasn't picked up on me hiding you two yet, so I can still come and go under his nose for a little while. You two will need to get out of Namimori as soon as you can. You have a passport, Sawada?"

"I think so. All our legal documents are in the study…"

"I'll go back to my old house and see if I can recover anything. I still have my keys…"

"I'll come with you," said Tsuna. "I don't want you going alone." Enma gave him a grateful smile. He didn't want to relive the experience alone either.

Gokudera sighed. What had he gotten himself into?

Nevertheless the three conversed a little about their personal lives and plans for the week. Gokudera would go to school, drop out, tell Hibari about Reborn (dangerous assassin, totally dangerous to order in Namimori, you'd better find him before he gets in touch with the Yakuza) , before heading to the Sawada residence and take as many papers he could while Enma and Tsuna go into the Kozato home and take everything they need and rendezvous at the mall, where they hire a taxi to drive them as far as they could from Namimori, then hitchhike into central Tokyo before one of Gokudera's contacts will smuggle them into a black market ship and out of Japan. Hopefully.

The next day, according to plan, Gokudera paid the last part of his rent and went into school cool as a cucumber and told the headmaster he was going to stop attending Namimori Middle. "I need to see the Hibari bastard as well," he said. "It's urgent."

The prefect raised an eyebrow. "State your business."

"It's about the Mafia," said Gokudera quietly. "Your dad was in CEDEF, wasn't he."

Hibari frowned but lead him into his office. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Reborn-san, the baby in black," said Gokudera quickly, because he did not have much time before Reborn would catch on and they had everything to lose, "He's a hitman hired by the Vongola."

Hibari listened carefully with a serious expression on his face. "What is his purpose in Namimori?"

"To tutor the next Vongola Heir, Sawada Tsunayoshi," Gokudera explained. "He will probably integrate his network into the local Yakuza to keep tabs on anyone who he thinks might be dangerous or useful and the Yakuza will run wild with Reborn-san on their side. I want you to swear not to let anyone know of this conversation, by the way."

"I do not need you to tell me to do anything," said Hibari coldly.

"I need to get some things from the Sawada Residence, but he's keeping an eye on it at all times."

Hibari smirked. "Sawada has not attended school for several days."

"That's right," said Gokudera. "The school has obligations to check on any students who do not come in for several days without their legal guardian giving the school a reason. I want you to take Sawada's passport and anything else important legally under the guise of reporting to local authorities, but I want you to give them to me. Don't look at me like that," he snapped at Hibari's incredulous look, "I read the fucking rulebook."

"Sawada is in danger from the Mafia?"

"He is," said Gokudera grimly. "He does not want anything to do with the Mafia. Another brat, Kozato Enma, his family was killed by Sawada Iemitsu and he's on the run. We need to get out of Japan without the Mafia noticing." He stood up and looked Hibari in the eye. "If Sawada disappears the Vongola would be weakened. You hate the Mafia for involving your father, don't you?"

"You are an interesting individual," said Hibari. "Very well. Only for keeping the peace in Namimori will I assist you. I will have Kusakabe drive you."

"In the name of our Brothers and Sisters I plead," Gokudera warned.

"In the name of our Father and Mother will I make this oath in blood, and should it break may I be damned," Hibari finished irritably. "Now be gone before I bite you to death."

On the other side of town, the two had snuck into the Kozato house. "This is the place," Enma murmured. "It's exactly the same as I left it."

Tsuna was immediately reminded of his home before Reborn arrived. Blood stains in the carpet and a thick layer of dust over the homely furniture. A picture of Enma and his sister was on the floor, the frame shattered into pieces with a bullet hole through it. "I can't forgive him," Enma growled. "For killing my parents, my sister, and abandoning his own son. What kind of a monster does that?"

"Enma-kun," said Tsuna softly, "I know how you feel. But we have to wait. We can't leave Gokudera-kun hanging because of something like this."

"Yeah, y-you're right. Here," said Enma, "Is my birth certificate. K-kaa-san showed it to me once. And there's some photos of our family out on vacation. I got hurt a lot, but it was still a good time. That's my passport." He picked them up and drew the best family photos from the album. "I think you can fit into my clothes. My room is upstairs."

They clamoured up and searched through all of Enma's things. "I didn't want to come back here ever again…"said Enma, his voice soft. He had taken out a sports bag and was throwing all his clothes out on to the floor.

"I wish I could go back and take my things," Tsuna murmured. "I don't ever want to forget what Okaa-san looked like." Enma told him where to find backpacks and he took three from the storage while Enma picked out what clothes to bring.

"Jackets," he was muttering and tossed waterproofs into it. "Hiking boots, jumpers, t-shirts, tracksuits…"

"Underpants," Tsuna reminded.

"Right," said Enma. "I was thinking of bringing mum's jewellery too…you know," he looked down. "To sell. And the electronics as well, like my phone and laptop. I can trade those in."

"Are you sure?"

"We can't bring much," said Enma. "And we won't have much money. I don't know my parents' PIN number so we can't use their cards, and I have no idea what they insured or if they had debt-"

"Now isn't the time to think about those things," the other urged. "We made do with insects and tree bark for a while. We'll just start over fresh."

"Y-yeah." Enma slung the sports bag over his shoulder and Tsuna took the backpacks, one of which was filled with portable electronics and the other with jewellery. They looked forlornly at the house but Enma shut the door firmly and cried his little heart out. "I'm leaving, Mum, Dad, Mami..." he choked, "Forgive me."

And the two ran downstairs and out from the garden where the keys were then buried under a tree. Enma cried all the way to the town centre where they sold his laptop, his phone, two MP3 players, five watches and all of his mother's jewellery. "Are ye sure about this one, boy?" the man behind the counter asked, pointing to the wedding ring. "It's pretty darn precious, that one."

"I-"

"We'll keep the jewellery," said Gokudera, a large duffel bag slung over his shoulder. "We don't need the electronics though."

"Gokudera-kun!" Said Tsuna, "But wouldn't you need the money?"

"We have enough," he said simply. "We can sell those later, Kozato." Enma nodded tearfully and put them back into the bag. "I got your passport and birth certificate," Gokudera said quietly inside Kusakabe's car. "I had to tell the damn prefect everything to get to it, but he promised not to tell."

"Hibari-san did?!" Tsuna squeaked.

"He isn't particularly fond of the Mafia either," the teen replied. "I brought you this." It was the photo displayed in the middle of the living room, Tsuna recalled. "Reborn-san took all the photos, but he left the one in the living room."

"It's enough." Tsuna's voice quivered. It was him and Nana, standing together in front of the amusement park. She had a beautiful smile on her face and it seemed her skin had an almost translucent quality under the sunlight. "More than enough."

Gokudera snorted, but said nothing.

"This is where I leave you," Kusakabe said. "I cannot go any further."

They were on the outskirts of Namimori, Enma realised, and they were not coming back. Gokudera nodded and headed towards a shabby motel. "We need to know who brought what," he explained, and they emptied out all the bags.

"I brought two waterproof jackets," said Enma. "I also got a vest, some t-shirts, socks, underwear and two pairs of tracksuit bottoms. I have a pair of hiking shoes as well."

"I'm the same size as Enma-kun," Tsuna continued, "So he gave some of his stuff. I have a jumper, two shirts, gloves, scarves, hats and trainers."

"Mine now; two thermos cans, a lighter, some matchsticks in case, a first aid kit, a waterproof jacket, three sleeping bags, torches, heat-keeping shirts, waterproof trousers and a pair of mountain boots. Kozato, you have the rings?"

"Yes," said Enma. "All seven are around my neck."

"Alright," said Gokudera quietly. "We'll be spending the night here. Tomorrow we leave just before dawn to the harbour." And all three sank into their sleeping bags silently, hoping to God and Allah and the Buddha and every other deity they could to help them escape. None of them dared to sleep.

"Gokudera-kun?" Tsuna murmured, "You're a great friend."

"Friend?" Gokudera sounded like he was being strangled.

"Yeah," Enma whispered. "And we're your friends too. Actually, you guys are actually my first _real _friends, you know? Back in Shimon they kicked me around and called me names. Especially Adelheid, she loved to boss me around. I guess it's better that I didn't give them the rings; they'll be even more terrifying."

"They don't sound like good friends," Tsuna said seriously. "The first people who bothered to be nice to me were Yamamoto-kun, Kyoko-chan and Onii-san. And you two, of course," he added hastily. "I thought Reborn was a nice person too, but as soon as I began sleeping properly again he pointed a gun to my face and I've been terrified of him ever since…"

"…"

"…Gokudera-kun?"

"You really want to be my friend?" He said roughly, but Tsuna thought he sounded almost desperate.

"I know you're angry a lot and you smoke and you've hurt a lot of people," said Tsuna, "But that doesn't matter when you're our friend. You're clever and kind and…you need help." His eyes seemed to turn a liquid gold. "You're just like us, Gokudera-kun." He didn't know where this came from, just that he needed to keep talking. "You've lost a lot too and got involved a lot of bad people, but that's okay, we're here to help. You need all the help you can get, Gokudera-kun." Tsuna was really tiptoeing on this now, but he was right; Gokudera did need help. He was just as delicate as Tsuna was inside. He saw that when Gokudera explained his past to them back in his apartment.

He was silent.

"S-sorry, Gokudera-kun." The brunet stuttered. "I-I don't know where that came from, I just suddenly started talking-"

"You'll accept me?" He sounded broken, desperate.

"O-of course," Enma butted in. "You're fine just the way you are."

"We need you, Gokudera-kun." Tsuna smiled. "I know we're a huge burden, but we'll do all we can to pay you back."

"That's right," Enma agreed. "I'll see if I can do anything with my rings."

Gokudera sat up and combed his hands through his silver hair. "Hayato," he grumbled, but his lips twitched into a small smile. Somebody wanted him, needed him, for the first time and his heart was about to burst. "I-you're my first friends too, I guess-gack!"

Enma leapt right on top of him and Tsuna followed shortly after. "We're just the same, aren't we?" Enma laughed. "We're just a bunch of nobodies who found each other."

And they paid him back almost immediately.

Using money from Enma's electronics, they managed to bribe their way into the black market ship. Enma himself was practising with his ring, and testing out his limits. He couldn't do much yet but the potential and practicality of it was enormous. Enma himself was quiet, thoughtful and a very good liar.

And while Tsuna had nothing to give physically, he became the group's emotional crutch. He could understand every side of the argument, he was sympathetic and forgiving, and after employing Reborn's posture lessons (he did manage to learn something from the guy)and combining it with a doe-like smile, he could charm and smooth talk through anything. It helped that neither were as clumsy as before, through tough life and necessity.

Gokudera-no, Hayato had become a lot more open with them too. He discovered that the two 'idiots', when left on their own and not crippled by expectation and peer pressure, figured things out very fast.

"The ship'll have to go through a security check, right? They'll definitely come down to the hold and check stuff out."

"The captain will have to have thought of that. Maybe he bribed the guards or something."

"We still have enough money to bribe _him _when we arrive, right?"

"I think so. What's the exchange rate again?"

Hayato rolled his eyes. "We still have another three months to wait, you know. More importantly," he said, pointing at some phrasebooks, "Your Italian is still abysmal."

Enma groaned.

"And especially your German," he continued as if Enma didn't say anything, "How can you expect to live near the Italian-Swiss border when you can't even say what time it is?"

"It takes time, Hayato." Tsuna sighed in exasperated fondness, "Let's take baby steps with this. Italian first, then German."

Enma twiddled his ring and held it up to the lamplight. "I wonder what everyone else is doing back in Japan."

"Probably celebrating," said Tsuna. "Although I'm worried about Yamamoto-kun. Reborn's probably thinking of getting him to join the mafia. He's far too nice."

"Shit," Hayato scratched his head, "I haven't thought of that. After we settle we'll go back and grab him-"

"No."

Enma raised his head. "Why not Tsuna? He and all your friends will get dragged into it-"

"He deserves his happiness," Tsuna whispered. "We have no right to take his ordinary life away from him. He'll be fine, I know it."

But he wasn't.

He was standing on the edge of the rooftop, his cast arm hanging from his neck while his classmates screamed at him to not jump. "Tsuna, Gokudera," he murmured, "I thought we were friends. I thought we had something in common. I guess I was wrong."

And he took a step forward and knew no more.

* * *

**And that's it for this chapter! Didja like it? Hate it? Either way leave a review or a message to tell me what you think? And isn't it such a coincidence that those three ended together like Primo and G did with Cozarto? *Coughtotallyunintentional***

**For those who haven't yet, check out my other Reborn fanfiction, Hunt for Mrs Sawada, where Tsuna is pressured to find a wife, Reborn is involved, and shenanigans ensue! Meanwhile, I'll melt into a puddle of stress from moving house and prepping for college...**


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